Life changes 'could stop cancer'

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Exercising more, keeping a healthy bodyweight, and reducing the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could cut cases by more than 5,700 each year, Cancer Research UK epidemiologist Professor Max Parkin has predicted.

His research, due to be presented to the National Cancer Research Institute's conference in Birmingham on Monday - the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month - suggested that without these lifestyle changes, the numbers of women diagnosed with breast cancer annually could rise from the current figure of 44,000 to 58,000 by 2024.

Professor Parkin predicted that around 2,100 cases could be prevented each year if the number of women taking HRT, identified as a leading lifestyle risk factor for breast cancer, continued to fall.

Another 1,800 cases a year could be prevented if obesity rates dropped, and a further 1,400 cases if women increased their level of physical activity, he said.

Professor Parkin added that it was important to recognise that an individual's genetic make-up, as well as lifestyle and environmental factors, contributed to their risk of developing the cancer.

"Since breast cancer is predominantly a disease diagnosed in older women, as the population ages so the incidence of breast cancer is set to increase," he said. "If recent trends continue we can calculate that by 2024 there will be nearly 60,000 new cases compared with the latest figures of 44,000 new cases a year.

"But we also know that a number of lifestyle factors can influence a woman's risk of breast cancer.

"If women begin to make changes in their lifestyle now, then by 2024 one in ten cases could be prevented."

Reducing alcohol intake and breast feeding for six months after childbirth could also reduce the risk, he said.