Nearly 60% of all cancer deaths in China could be prevented by changes in lifestyle or other factors, with the main causes being chronic infection and tobacco smoking. From : http://johncherrie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/infections-and-smoking-are-main.html
A recent paper by Wang and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and other research centres calculated the proportions of cancer deaths and incident cases attributed to known risk factors [1]. They found that chronic infections and tobacco smoking are the main preventable causes of cancers, with about 30% of cancer deaths in China due to infection and about 23% due to smoking (much higher in men than women: about 33% versus 5%). Other important risk factors included low fruit intake (13%), alcohol drinking (4.4%), low vegetable intake (3.6%) and occupational exposures (2.7%). The commonest carcinogenic infections were the hepatitis B and C virus (HBV/HCV) and helicobacter pylori. All of the nasopharyngeal cancer deaths in China were attributed to infection with the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and the cervical cancers to human papilloma virus (HPV). These two causes alone account for 40,000 deaths each year. The proportion of deaths attributed to workplace exposure is likely to underestimate the true situation because the authors only considered a relatively small number of agents. The study identified that each year there are over a million cancer deaths in China that could be prevented.
Reference 1. Wang J-B, Jiang Y, Liang H, Li P, Xiao HJ, Ji J, et al. Attributable causes of cancer in China. Ann Oncol 2012;23:2983–9.
A recent paper by Wang and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and other research centres calculated the proportions of cancer deaths and incident cases attributed to known risk factors [1]. They found that chronic infections and tobacco smoking are the main preventable causes of cancers, with about 30% of cancer deaths in China due to infection and about 23% due to smoking (much higher in men than women: about 33% versus 5%). Other important risk factors included low fruit intake (13%), alcohol drinking (4.4%), low vegetable intake (3.6%) and occupational exposures (2.7%). The commonest carcinogenic infections were the hepatitis B and C virus (HBV/HCV) and helicobacter pylori. All of the nasopharyngeal cancer deaths in China were attributed to infection with the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and the cervical cancers to human papilloma virus (HPV). These two causes alone account for 40,000 deaths each year. The proportion of deaths attributed to workplace exposure is likely to underestimate the true situation because the authors only considered a relatively small number of agents. The study identified that each year there are over a million cancer deaths in China that could be prevented. Reference 1. Wang J-B, Jiang Y, Liang H, Li P, Xiao HJ, Ji J, et al. Attributable causes of cancer in China. Ann Oncol 2012;23:2983–9.
