If someone came up with a single vaccine or drug that was proven to cure 40 per cent of all cancers we would all be dancing in the streets, yet in effect this is what we have says the UICC, except it isn't in one tablet, it's in lots of different bits of knowledge and strategies, we just need to apply them effectively and comprehensively.
The UICC said cancer prevention strategies include simple things like:
The UICC said cancer prevention strategies include simple things like:
- Quitting use of tobacco and avoiding second-hand smoke,
- Limiting consumption of alcohol,
- Avoiding too much sun,
- Keeping to a healthy weight through healthy diet and exercise, and
- Protecting against infections that cause cancer.
To coincide with World Cancer Day, the UICC has prepared a report titled "Cancer can be prevented too: protection against cancer-causing infections" that highlights 9 infections that can lead to cancer: including cervical and liver cancers, which can be prevented by vaccines. The nine infection areas covered in the report are: Hepatitis B virus (causes liver cancer); Hepatitis C virus (a growing threat that also causes liver cancer); HPV (certain strains cause cervical cancer); Epstein Barr virus (causes Burkitt'slymphoma, especially high incidence in children in equatorial Africa); HIV (Kaposi's sarcoma and AIDS-related lymphomas); Helicobacter pylori (a bacterium that can cause stomach cancer); Liver flukes and cancer of the bile ducts; Schistosomiasis and bladder cancer; and HTLV-1 and adult T-cell leukaemia.
The report explains that over the last three decades infections have emerged as an important risk for cancer, and suggests that current cancer research should focus on their prevention, detection and treatment.
Co-author Harald zur Hausen, who won the Nobel prize for his discovery of human papillomaviruses (HPV) causing cervical cancer, wrote that:
"Globally, efforts to identify agents involved in human cancers and to study the mechanisms of how they lead to cancer are still remarkably underrepresented."
Co-author Harald zur Hausen, who won the Nobel prize for his discovery of human papillomaviruses (HPV) causing cervical cancer, wrote that:
"Globally, efforts to identify agents involved in human cancers and to study the mechanisms of how they lead to cancer are still remarkably underrepresented."
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