Almost half of cancer deaths globally are due to preventable risk factors, new study suggests

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, after heart disease, according to the World Health Organization.

A new paper has revealed shocking results that nearly half of deaths due to cancer, on a global level, can be attributable to preventable risk factors. On the bright side, this shows that by controlling and managing preventable risk factors, several cancer risks and deaths can be avoided.

However, it is also disappointing to study the data to find that these deaths could have been avoided had those individuals been able to manage their preventable risk factors, especially the top ones influenced by lifestyle choices, and poverty levels, according to another study.

The research finds that 44.4% of all cancer deaths could be caused by preventable risk factors in 2019.

The data also showed that these risk-attributable cancer deaths are on the rise, increasing worldwide by 20.4% from 2010 to 2019. This is definitely a sign of concern to inculcate healthier lifestyle changes.

These are the three leading risks preventable factors of cancer deaths worldwide:

Chemicals in the cigarettes damage your DNA, and make it harder for your cells to repair any DNA damage. They also damage the parts of DNA that help to actually protect us from cancer. This build-up of DNA damage in the same cell over time leads to cancer.

Cigarette smoking can lead to cancer in almost any part of the body. It can cause cancer of the mouth and throat, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, liver, pancreas, larynx, trachea, bronchus, kidney and renal pelvis, urinary bladder, and cervix.

Regular and heavy alcohol consumption can damage your liver, leading to inflammation and scarring, which can raise the risk of liver cancer. Alcohol consumption has also been linked with a higher risk of colon and rectum cancers.

Cutting down on your alcohol intake can help reduce the cancer risk. The more you can cut down on your consumption, the more you can reduce your risk.

Drinking less alcohol will also reduce your risk of accidents, getting high blood pressure and developing liver disease.

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If you are carrying too much extra weight, it can raise your risk of developing certain types of cancer, along with the chance of cancer coming back even after treatment.

Some of the reasons behind this include the fact that extra weight raises your levels of the hormones insulin and insulin growth factor-1 which can help some cancers develop.

Fat tissue also produces more of the hormone estrogen that may help in development of breast cancer.

If you are obese, especially with more fat around the belly, then you are more likely to have or develop chronic, low-level inflammation which is also linked with with an increased cancer risk.

"These findings highlight that a substantial proportion of cancer burden globally has potential for prevention through interventions aimed at reducing exposure to known cancer risk factors but also that a large proportion of cancer burden might not be avoidable through control of the risk factors currently estimated," the researchers wrote.

"Thus, cancer risk reduction efforts must be coupled with comprehensive cancer control strategies that include efforts to support early diagnosis and effective treatment," the researchers added.

Cancer screening is important, especially in those at increased risk.

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The paper, published on Thursday in the journal The Lancet, was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The data for analysing the relationship between risk factors and cancer was used from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's Global Burden of Disease project.

For this study, the researchers zeroed in on cancer deaths and disability from 2010 to 2019 across 204 countries, examining 23 cancer types and 34 risk factors.