Healthy lifestyle changes can prevent breast cancer returning and save lives

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-05-05 01:00

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US scientists looked at the medical records of 1,340 women with high-risk breast cancer, and found those who stuck to the lifestyle changes recommended by the American Cancer Society and the American Institute of Cancer Research were 37% less likely to see the disease return and 58% less likely to die, compared with women who did not adopt the recommendations. The recommended lifestyle changes are increasing physical activity, watching your BMI, eating more fruit and veg, reducing red and processed meat, cutting back on sugary drinks and alcohol, and quitting smoking. Although this type of study cannot prove that lifestyle changes actually caused the improvements seen, the scientists say strategies to help women learn about and implement the recommendations should be integrated into breast cancer care.

Media release

From: JAMA

Adherence to Lifestyle Recommendations and Breast Cancer Recurrence Prevention

About The Study: In this observational study of 1,340 women with high-risk breast cancer, strongest collective adherence to cancer prevention lifestyle recommendations was associated with significant reductions in disease recurrence and mortality. Education and implementation strategies to help patients adhere to cancer prevention recommendations throughout the cancer care continuum may be warranted in breast cancer.

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Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, USA

Funder: This work was supported by grants R01 CA116395 (Dr Ambrosone), R01 CA139426 (Dr Ambrosone), P30CA016056, and T32CA113951 from the National Cancer Institute and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (Dr Ambrosone). SWOG S0221 was supported in part by grants 5UG1CA189974-02, CA180888, CA180819, CA180863, CA180858, CA180828, CA180801, CA68183, CA04919, CA13612, and CA46282 from the National Cancer Institute and in part by Amgen Inc.

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