Vidushi Kumar
Mark your calendar for Thursday, May 24 – the launch day for the most comprehensive and authoritative report on lifestyle and cancer prevention to date. The American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund will unveil Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Cancer: A Global Perspective, the Third Expert Report. The report will present the very latest research on how lifestyle factors such as diet, nutrition, body weight, and physical activity can impact cancer risk.
It is the most comprehensive assessment of existing literature based on a review of hundreds of studies. Experts worldwide applaud the report as a landmark achievement in terms of the scope of its coverage.
“The Third Expert Report sets a new standard of excellence for public health recommendations,” says Dr. Steven K. Clinton, Director of genitourinary oncology at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James. Dr. Clinton is a physician-scientist and an oncologist specializing in prostate cancer treatment and is a member of the independent panel of experts evaluating and interpreting the scientific evidence for AICR’s Continuous Update Project.
Dr. Clinton says the report will be useful to anyone interested in cancer prevention, personally and professionally:
- Individuals looking to reduce their risk of cancer or live well after a diagnosis.
- Medical and health professionals, by providing reliable, up-to-date information on preventing and surviving cancer to share with patients.
- Policymakers, when setting public health goals and implementing effective policies that prioritize cancer prevention.
- Researchers when designing future studies.
- The media, by presenting authoritative and trusted information on cancer prevention.
The findings from this ongoing review represent state-of-the-art evidence relating food, nutrition, physical activity and body size with risk of cancer.
Even researchers who were not involved in this mammoth report have commended its value. Dr. Larry Kushi, Director of Scientific Policy at Kaiser Permanente says, “The work done by the WCRF/AICR for reviewing the evidence from epidemiologic studies is the most rigorous and outstanding systematic literature review and meta-analysis process that has been developed and implemented in just about any topic area worldwide. The findings from this ongoing review represent state-of-the-art evidence relating food, nutrition, physical activity and body size with risk of cancer.”
The report builds on AICR’s previous First and Second Expert Reports that were published in 1997 and 2007 respectively and combines cumulative and state-of-the-art evidence on cancer risk.
AICR’s panel of experts have also used the report to put together the new 10 Recommendations for Cancer Prevention.
