More Than Half of All Cancer Is Preventable

More Than Half of All Cancer Is Preventable

More Than Half of All Cancer Is Preventable. In a review article published in Science Translational Medicine March 28, 2012, the investigators outline obstacles they say stand in the way of making a huge dent in the cancer burden in the United States and around the world.

According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 1,638,910 new cancer cases will be diagnosed this year in the United States. Also this year, 577,190 Americans are expected to die of cancer. Only heart disease kills more people in this country.

“We actually have an enormous amount of data about the causes and preventability of cancer,” says epidemiologist Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH, the Niess-Gain Professor at the School of Medicine and associate director of prevention and control at the Siteman Cancer Center.

“It’s time we made an investment in implementing what we know.” Colditz’s research has shown that these cancer prevention strategies would reduce the burden of heart disease and other chronic conditions as well.

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