About Cancer Prevention
The Cancer Picture
In 2008, an estimated 166,400 Canadians – 6,500 more new cases than the year previous – heard three words that would change their lives forever: “You have cancer.” Almost 74,000 Canadians died from cancer last year – 1,100 more than in 2007.
These are not just statistics – they are mothers, co-workers, school-mates and big brothers. They’re children, next-door neighbours, grandparents, sisters, uncles and cherished friends. They are young and old, male and female, rich and poor – and of every race, colour and creed.
As the Baby Boom generation gets older, even more Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer. But it’s not just our aging population – the incidence of many cancers in Canada, such as breast, prostate and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, are among the highest in the world. According to 2005 data from Cancer Research UK, North America has the highest percentage of deaths worldwide due to all cancers – at 23%. Even worse, the umbilical cord blood of every infant on Earth now contains scores of cancer-causing substances, such as pesticides, solvents, hormones and heavy metals – all commonly found in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat, including breast milk.
Well over half of all cancers are ‘environmental’ – that is, they’re not caused by genes inherited from our parents, but from exposures in the womb and throughout life after our birth. What we do to the environment, we do to ourselves – and to our children. This insanity must stop.
Why Prevention?
To prevent cancer, we’re urged to stop smoking – better still, never start – eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, limit alcohol consumption, and exercise regularly. This is all very good advice. But even more cancers can be prevented if we reduce or eliminate cancer-causing substances from the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat – and from numerous consumer and personal products we use daily. Most of our homes, schools and workplaces are contaminated with cancer-causing substances that can be reduced or even completely eliminated.
In North America, an estimated 80,000 synthetic chemicals are in commercial use; another 1,000 or more are added each year. Complete information on the toxicology of these chemicals is available on only 7%. While many of these chemicals persist in the environment and accumulate in body fat, such as breast tissue, more than 90% have never been tested for their effects on human health1.
Leading cancer scientists are realizing that the costly search for drugs to treat the more than 200 diseases that make up cancer is an endless black hole, and that far more attention should be paid to finding the causes of genetic mutations that lead to deadly tumours (Toronto Star, 04/09/2008). Currently, less than 2% of the half-billion dollars spent on cancer research in Canada goes into primary prevention, according to the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance.
… because it works
Enormous spending on research over the past 50 years has not found the elusive “cure” for cancer. Where cancer rates have dropped, there is a clear link to prevention efforts.
Here are two examples:
- Most of the drop in cancer death rates for Canadian men since 1988 is due to declining lung cancer rates2 – a direct result of efforts to cease smoking.
- Breast cancer rates in women in Canada have declined by 1.7% per year since 19993. Research has linked the decline primarily with decreases in the use of hormone replacement therapy, for post-menopausal women with estrogen positive cancers. The banning of pesticides such as DDT thirty years ago has also resulted in lower exposures for young girls during critical periods of breast development4.
We are convinced that many more successes will be found if more research dollars are allocated to prevention.
Changes You Can Make Today
Prevent Cancer Now works at a broader level to remove cancer-causing agents from our environment. There are many things you can do for yourself and your loved ones, right now!
Devra Davis is the director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. In addition to the well-known rules of cancer prevention: don’t smoke, eat well (plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, preferably organic), and exercise, these are the things Devra advises:
Food: Eat organic produce, especially fruits whose peels are eaten, and avoid red meat. Eat low on the food chain, choosing more fresh produce and grains and less meat.
Cleaning products: Look under the kitchen sink, and avoid using anything that carries a skull and crossbones. Buy baking soda and vinegar instead – they’re just as good.
Cellphones: Limit your calls as much as possible or use a headset, to lower direct microwave penetration to your brain.
Non-stick cookware and stain repellents: Throw out any old, cracked non-stick pans, since the chemical, PFOA, used to make the non-stick coating has been linked to cancer. It is also present in stain-resistant clothing, and waterproof fabrics. Rain-proof gear is OK, but not next to the skin.
Personal care items: Avoid anything that contains parabens – butylparaben, methylparaben -which in some studies have shown estrogenic activity, and which have also been found in human breast tumours.
1Gray et al, State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment, International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 15/No. 1, Jan./Mar. 2009
2Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada: Canadian Cancer Statistics 2008, viewed online on February 11, 2009 at:
3Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada: Canadian Cancer Statistics 2008, viewed online on February 11, 2009 at:
4Gray et al, State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment, International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 15/No. 1, Jan./Mar. 2009
