Guest Editor(s)
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- Prof. Luis Rodrigo
- Department of Gastroenterology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
Website | E-mail
Special Issue Introduction
Since 2007, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) have formulated recommendations for cancer prevention. The guidelines are generally based on quantitative meta-analyses of the most comprehensive collection of available published evidence on physical activity, weight management, and diet in association with cancer.
A healthful diet is an important modifiable risk factor for decreasing cancer risk beyond not smoking, leading a physically active life and maintaining a healthy body weight. This has also been confirmed by many studies conducted on participants aged between 25 to 70 years which followed the dietary recommendations and found a significant inverse association between the proposed dietary recommendations in 2007 and cancer risks. These studies also analyzed the cancer risk factors apart from physical activity and body mass index (BMI). Diet, lifestyle, and other risk factors for disease occurrence might change in either direction during follow-up. An earlier study conducted on the elderly reported relatively stable dietary patterns over a period of 5 years. However, a final conclusion on the strength of potential bias, caused by diet changes later in life, has not been drawn and residual confounding by unmeasured covariates (such as information on cancer screening) or incompletely measured covariates (e.g., physical activity and smoking) remains possible. Eating according to dietary guidelines is associated with a lower risk of developing diet-related cancers in the elderly in Europe and in the United States. Adherence to an additional dietary guideline increases the number of years of living without any cancer by 1.6 years and without colorectal cancer by 3.1 years.
The implantation of a correct type of diet influences cancers of many different types and localizations and plays a role not only in reduction or prevention of the tumor, but also in their recovery after the application of the proper treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy) or a combination of treatments. These dietary recommendations for cancer prevention require more promotion and implementation to reach the general public, further decreasing the burden of cancer and improving quality of life for the elderly.
Keywords
diet, nutrition, cancer risk
Submission Deadline
31 Dec 2021