Cancer toll could dive if health advice followed

WASHINGTON - More than 60 per cent of all cancer deaths could be prevented if Americans stopped smoking, exercised more, ate healthier food and got recommended cancer screenings, the American Cancer Society reported this week.

And Americans could realistically cut the death rate in half, the report says. This year 1.37 million Americans will learn they have cancer and 563,700 will die of it.

"The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2005, more than 168,140 cancer deaths will be caused by tobacco use alone," the organisation said.

"In addition, scientists estimate that approximately one-third (190,090) of the 570,280 cancer deaths expected to occur in 2005 will be related to poor nutrition, physical inactivity, overweight, obesity and other lifestyle factors."

That totals 358,230 or 62 per cent of all cancer deaths.

"The issue is how many could you actually pull off in reality and half doesn't seem like a big stretch," Dr Michael Thun, head of epidemiology for the non-profit group, said.

"If one could eliminate tobacco use, you would eliminate about half of cancer deaths. If you could help people maintain a healthy body weight and get more physical activity, that would be another 10 per cent," he added. "Increasing colorectal screening and high quality mammography and Pap (smears for cervical cancer) would contribute another fraction. It is very plausible that one could get a 50 per cent reduction."

For instance, breast cancer, which kills 40,000 women and men in the United States every year, is easily treated if caught before it spreads. In February a team at Harvard Medical School calculated that if every woman aged between 50 and 79 got a mammogram every year, it would reduce deaths from breast cancer by 37 per cent.

Colon cancer and prostate cancer, two other top cancer killers, are also easily caught early with proper screening.

But the single easiest way to prevent cancer would be to stop all tobacco use, the report says.

"What we have learned from tobacco is that in addition to education, measures that make a huge difference are things like increasing excise taxes on cigarettes and the clean air laws that have been enacted to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke," Thun said.

Encouraging smokers to quit and changing social norms about smoking have also helped drive the nation's smoking rate below 25 per cent, he said.

Tackling obesity will be more difficult, Thun said.

He also said schools need to examine ways to get sugary soft drinks out of vending machines.

NZ KILLER

* In New Zealand, cancer causes about a quarter of all deaths.

* Cancer killed 7620 New Zealanders in 2000 - 4120 males and 3500 females.

* For men, main killers were cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung (860 deaths), colorectum and anus (571) and prostate (594).

* For women, main causes of cancer death were breast cancer (622 deaths), colorectum and anus (563), and cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung (546).

* 70 per cent of people who die from cancer are aged 65-plus

* Only 5 per cent are under 45.

Source: NZ Health Information Service figures for 2000

- REUTERS