Primary Prevention includes those steps taken by individuals, organizations, or communities to prevent the development of disease. Adopting specific lifestyle behaviors can lower cancer risk. The healthy lifestyle behaviors most effective in preventing cancer include avoiding tobacco products and secondhand smoke, minimizing alcohol intake, following a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and protecting against ultraviolet exposure. Other behaviors linked to cancer prevention include breastfeeding and practicing healthy sexual behavior. Raising awareness about the impact people can have on their health status through adopting healthy lifestyles is a step toward cancer prevention.

Goal: Decrease cancer risk through lifestyle behavioral interventions

Objectives: (please click on the topic name to see the objectives)

• Tobacco Prevention: There is no question that tobacco is harmful to the body. Tobacco harms nearly every organ in the body and is a known risk factor for 15 types of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, decreased tobacco use has reduced cancer deaths among men by at least 40 percent from 1993 to 2003. Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of chemicals produced by the burning of tobacco and its additives. The smoke contains tar, which is made up of more than 4,000 chemicals, including over 60 known to cause cancer. Studies show that smoking tobacco products in any form is the major cause of lung cancer. In Cancer Facts & Figures 2009, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and the most preventable form of cancer death in the United States for both men and women.  Each year, about 3,000 non-smoking adults die of lung cancer as a result of breathing in secondhand smoke.

• Tobacco Cessation: Tobacco use is harmful to the body; consequently, stopping use has many health benefits. According to the National Cancer Institute, people who stop smoking and never start again lower their risk of developing lung cancer or of having lung cancer recur. Within five years of quitting, the risk of death from lung cancer decreased by 21 percent. Nearly two-thirds of deaths among current smokers were caused by cigarette smoking, compared with only 28 percent among former smokers. It is never too late to quit using tobacco. The sooner smokers quit, the more likely they can reduce their chances of getting cancer and other diseases. Within minutes of smoking the last cigarette, the body begins to restore itself.

• Nutrition: The food we put into our bodies has a significant impact on our health status. Better nutrition means stronger immune systems, less illness, and better health. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 35 percent of cancer deaths in the United States may be avoidable through dietary modification. Epidemiological studies have shown that populations whose diets are high in vegetables and fruits and low in animal fat, meat and/or calories have a reduced risk of come of the most common types of cancer: lung, oral, esophageal, stomach, and colon cancer.

• Physical Activity: Regular physical activity is important for the health and well being for people of all ages. Many adults and children are not physically active on a regular basis. According to the American Cancer Society, physical activity helps to balance caloric intake with energy expenditure and regulate the bodies’ metabolism, while reducing concentrations of insulin and related growth factors. The National Cancer Institute has found that physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of several types of cancer, including cancers of the breast and colon, and can provide other important health benefits.

• Weight Management: Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight can lower the risk of cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately two-thirds of adults in the United States are characterized as overweight or obese, widely considered a public health epidemic. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, overweight and obesity may account for 20 percent of all cancer deaths in U.S. women and 14 percent in U.S. men. That means 90,000 cancer deaths could be prevented each year if Americans could only maintain a normal, healthy body weight. According to the American Cancer Society, being overweight or obese is associated with increased risk for cancers at several sites: breast, colon, endomentrium, adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, gallbladder, pancreas, and kidney. Efforts to establish healthful weight, physical activity habits, and patterns of weight gain should begin in childhood.

• Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding provides protection from cancer for both mother and child in several ways. Evidence shows for each year a mother breastfeeds her child, her relative risk for developing breast cancer is reduced by 4.3 percent. Additionally, breastfeeding causes anovulation, which is thought to help prevent ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding may also offer protection from endometrial cancer. A child who is breastfed receives the benefit of a decreased risk for childhood obesity, which may prevent cancer later in life. Some studies show that breastfeeding may offer a small bit of protection from certain childhood cancers as well.

• Sun Safety: Sun safety reduces the risks of getting skin cancer, the most commone of all cancer types. More than 1 million skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the U.S. According to the American Cancer Society, the majority of skin cancers are caused by overexposure to the ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun – which can cause damage to the DNA of skin cells. Children and adolescents in particular need to protect their skin from the sun, as it may reduce cancer risks later in life.

• Immunizations: Receiving certain immunizations can be a preventative measure against cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, vaccines boost the immune system’s natural ability to defend the body against infection and to protect it from dangers posed by certain types of damaged or abnormal cells, including cancer cells. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration has approved two preventative cancer vaccines in the U.S. which fight against the Hepatitis B virus and the human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18. In chronically ill patients, the Hepatitis B virus can cause liver cancer. HPV is responsible for 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases.

• Healthy Sexual Behavior: Practicing healthy sexual behaviors can decrease the risk factors associated with cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, having unprotected sex or having many sexual partners is a contributing factor for getting the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. In addition, studies have shown that HIV infections and Clamydia infections may pose greater risks for cervical cancer. Condoms may help protect against HPV and other sexual diseases if used correctly. Also, a study suggested that more sexual partners for a male may increase the chances of getting prostate cancer.

  NOTE: All strategies can be found in the specified section of the Indiana Cancer Control Plan.