🌅 The Cancers Attributed to Lifestyle

SOURCE

American Cancer Society

WHAT TO KNOW

• A recent study by researchers at the American Cancer Society found 40% of cancer diagnoses in U.S. adults age 30 and older could be attributed to modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, UV radiation exposure, and lack of physical activity. Cigarette smoking was by far the leading risk factor, contributing to 19.3% of all cancer cases among the group.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The U.S. was projected to experience more than 2 million new cancer cases in 2024; the first year above the 2-million mark. Experts predict the U.S. will surpass 2 million new cases again in 2025. On a more positive note: cancer mortality has steadily declined since the 1990s.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• One reason cancer mortality has improved is advancements in early detection. A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University has pushed the bounds even further, finding genetic material shed by cancerous tumors in blood samples can be detected in patients’ bloodstream three years before being diagnosed through conventional methods.