A World Cancer Research Fund study has linked the following evidence-based lifestyle recommendations to better long-term outcomes for people with cancer.
Adhering to five evidence-based lifestyle recommendations improves long-term outcomes in people with cancer in the UK, the World Cancer Research Fund has suggested.
These are to be a healthy weight; be physically active; eat wholegrains, vegetables, fruit and beans; limit red and processed meat and limit alcohol consumption, initially outlined in the 2018 WCRF/AICR Cancer Prevention Recommendations.
A study it has supported shows that having a score in the highest third of the study population, indicating the healthiest behaviours, was associated with a 16% lower risk of dying from any cause after a cancer diagnosis, compared with those in the lowest third.
The research was published in Cancer in May and funded by Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds, a Netherlands-based charity within the World Cancer Research Fund International network.
It represents more comprehensive evidence of how to improve long-term cancer survival.
Newcastle University researchers assessed the dietary and lifestyle data of 28,550 members recruited to the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010. They were assigned score points from zero to five in relation to how closely the recommendations were followed prior to a cancer diagnosis.
“Cancer survivors can take action to improve their health and should be encouraged to do so by healthcare providers,” said study co-author Fiona Malcomson.
Her team also found that each one-point increment in score, equivalent to fully meeting one recommendation, was associated with an 8% lower chance of dying from any cause over time.
Crucially, this association was consistent whether or not the individual smoked, and also for multiple cancer types such as breast and liver cancers.
