5 april 2011

Following cancer prevention guidelines reduces risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality

BACKGROUND: Few studies have evaluated the combined impact of following recommended lifestyle behaviors on cancer, CVD and all-cause mortality, and most included tobacco avoidance. Because 80% of Americans are never or former smokers, it is important to consider the impact of other recommended behaviors.

METHODS: In 1992 and 1993, 111,966 non-smoking men and women in the Cancer Prevention Study (CPS)-II Nutrition Cohort completed diet and lifestyle questionnaires. A score ranging from 0-8 points was computed to reflect adherence to the American Cancer Society (ACS) cancer prevention guidelines on body mass index, physical activity, diet and alcohol consumption, with 8 points representing optimal adherence. Multivariable-adjusted relative risks (RR) of death and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed using Cox proportional hazard regression.

RESULTS: During 14-years of follow-up, 10,369 men and 6,613 women died. The RR of all-cause mortality was lower for participants with high (7,8) vs. low (0-2) scores (men, RR=0.58, 95% CI 0.53-0.62; women, RR=0.58, 95% CI 0.52-0.64). Inverse associations were found with CVD mortality (men, RR=0.52, 95% CI 0.45-0.59; women, RR=0.42, 95% CI 0.35-0.51), and cancer mortality (men, RR=0.70, 95% CI 0.61-0.80; women, RR=0.76, 95% CI 0.65-0.89). Similar associations, albeit not all statistically significant, were observed for never and former smokers.

CONCLUSION: Adherence to cancer prevention guidelines for obesity, diet, physical activity and alcohol consumption is associated with lower risk of death from cancer, CVD and all-causes in non-smokers. Impact: Beyond tobacco avoidance, following other cancer prevention guidelines may substantially lower risk of premature mortality in older adults.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    McCullough M.L.; Patel A.V.; Kushi L.H.; Patel R.; Willett W.C.; Doyle C.; Thun M.J.; Gapstur S.
  • Issue

    Cancer Epidemiol.Biomarkers Prev / pages 1089-97 / volume 20(6)
  • Published Date

    5 april 2011