Saving Lives: AICR’s Impact

AICR’s research is changing lives … and saving lives.

Our Ten Recommendations for Cancer Prevention, derived from AICR/WCRF’s rigorous, comprehensive reports and updates, outline steps to lower cancer risk. They provide practical guidance to individuals and shape health policy.

Since we released these evidence-based recommendations, researchers have been putting them to the test. They’re looking at ongoing studies of diet, physical activity and disease risk among large numbers of people and analyzing them based on how closely those people follow AICR’s Recommendations for Cancer Prevention.

Now these researchers are publishing their results. Over and over again, they’re showing that following AICR’s recommendations cuts cancer risk, prevents cancer recurrence, and protects against other chronic diseases as well.

In other words: Following AICR’s recommendations saves lives.*

Here are the most recent studies demonstrating the real-world impact of AICR’s vital research:

• Preventing Prostate Cancer: A study of over 2,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer suggests the risk of aggressive tumor development was almost 40 percent lower in those men who followed four or more of AICR’s recommendations compared to those who least followed them.

Read more about the study from our blog.

Source: Lenore Arab et al. Nutrition and Cancer. "Adherence to World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Lifestyle Recommendations Reduces Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness Among African and Caucasian Americans." July 2013.

• Preventing Breast Cancer: Post-menopausal women who followed at least five of AICR’s Recommendations cut their risk of developing breast cancer by more than half, compared to those who meet none, suggests a study published in June. The recommendations that most helped women reduce their risk of breast cancer were eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains; being a healthy weight; and drinking no more than one alcoholic beverage a day.

Read about the study.

Source: Theresa A Hastert, Shirley A. A. Beresford, Ruth E. Patterson, et al. "Adherence to WCRF/AICR cancer prevention recommendations and risk of post-menopausal breast cancer." Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev Published OnlineFirst June 18, 2013. August 2013.

Ceccatto, V et al. Characteristics of newly diagnosed women with breast cancer: a comparison with the recommendations of the WCRF/AICR Second Report. Nutr Hosp. 2012 Nov-Dec;27(6):1973-80.

• Living Longer: A major study including almost 400,000 people found that people who followed at least seven of AICR’s recommendations had one-third the risk of dying from several diseases over a 12 year period compared to people who don’t follow the recommendations. For cancer, following the recommendations linked to a one-fifth reduced risk of dying from cancer.

Read about how following lifestyle recommendations could reduce risk of death by a third.

Source: Anne-Claire Vergnaud. "Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research guidelines and risk of death in Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer cohort study." The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. May 2013.

• Longer Lives for Survivors: After tracking approximately 2,000 women diagnosed with cancer for an average of five years, a study found that the survivors who followed at least six of AICR’s recommendations had a 33 percent reduced risk of dying during those years compared to the women who followed four or fewer recommendations.

We highlighted the study in a CRU article.

Source: Maki Inoue-Choi et al. "Adherence to the WCRF/AICR guidelines for cancer prevention is associated with lower mortality among older female cancer survivors." Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention. May 2013.

• Physical and Mental Well-Being for Survivors: A study that focused on physical and mental well being among 2,000 women diagnosed with cancer found that survivors who most adhered to AICR recommendations had improved physical functioning and mental health compared to those who least followed the recommendations. Daily physical activity was the one specific recommendation linked to higher physical functioning and improved mental health.

This was also highlighted in a CRU article.

Source: Maki Inoue-Choi et al. "Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Recommendations for Cancer Prevention Is Associated With Better Health-Related Quality of Life Among Elderly Female Cancer Survivors." Journal of Clinical Oncology. May 2013.

*In these investigations, researchers have interpreted and applied AICR's recommendations in slightly different ways. Yet the consistency of effect seen across all of these studies highlights the combined strength and robustness of AICR’s Recommendations For Cancer Prevention.