Lifestyle changes such as adopting healthier eating habits can significantly reduce the risk of pancreatic cancers, a new study finds.
Worried you might be at a high risk of pancreatic cancers? Making positive lifestyle changes may be a good way to prevent it from happening. At least that's what the findings of a new study suggest.
Pancreatic cancers are one of the deadliest forms of cancer and have a low survival rate. Though 8,800 people are diagnosed with the disease yearly, only 3 percent survive for five years or more. In a new study by researchers from Cancer Research UK, it was found that over 40 percent of such cancer cases could be avoided by making healthy lifestyle choices and not smoking.
"Cancer is a complex set of diseases. For some, lifestyle can play an important role, and is one aspect of the disease that we have some control over," Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of early diagnosis, said in a press statement. "Pancreatic cancer is a disease with poor outcomes and is less well understood, so it's important that we talk about the things people can do to stack the odds in their favour and reduce their risk."
So what are the lifestyle changes you can make to keep such risks at bay? First of all, being physically active is very important. According to national recommendations, adults should exercise for at least 150 minutes a week.
Cutting down on the consumption of red meat could significantly lower pancreatic cancers risks. When cancer researchers started to search for links between diet and cancer, one of the most noticeable findings was that people who avoided red meat were much less likely to develop the disease. This hypothesis has worked across several studies. The data on causal influences of dietary factors are not necessarily conclusive in every case, but substantial enough to support all of the recommendations to avoid red meat.
Of course, smoking and alcohol consumption is a complete no-no, though many studies in the past have said that one glass of red wine a day won't do much harm. Green tea has long been associated with a string of health benefits, including reducing the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an ester of epigallocatechin and gallic acid, is found in abundance in green tea extracts and it is this ester that is responsible for the cancer-fighting properties of the beverage. It suppresses the expression of an enzyme known as LDHA, which is associated with cancer, researchers recently found.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially in nearly 40 years. It is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. It also has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. About 94 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within five years of diagnosis. Only 6 percent survive more than five years and 74 percent of patients die within the first year of diagnosis.
According to statistics revealed by the American Cancer Society, about 46,420 people (23,530 men and 22,890 women) will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2014. Among these, 39,590 people (20,170 men and 19,420 women) will die from the disease.
The current study was published online in the British Journal of Cancer.
