April 4, 2003 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Canadian Cancer Society predict an explosion in new cancer cases in the coming years.
WHO, to begin with, believes 15 million new cases could be diagnosed in 2020, a 50% increase from the 10 million cases diagnosed in 20001. For its part, the Canadian Cancer Society anticipates a 70% increase in new cancer cases in the country by 2015.
The aging of the population, both in developed and developing countries, is believed to be the main factor responsible for this growth, since cancer is a disease that mainly affects the elderly. WHO estimates, however, that concerted action on the part of the government and health professionals could prevent up to a third of the new cases planned.
The Canadian Cancer Society believes that cancer could eventually become a disease like diabetes, with which we live without any particular problem. Some people might even go through more than one cancer in their lifetime. As such, the progress made by science, both in the fight against disease and in prevention, is encouraging. The benefits of exercise and healthy eating, in particular, are better documented than ever.
For example, British researchers have found that, taken in combination, selenium and sulforaphane are 13 times more effective in fighting cancer than taken individually.1. Selenium is found in foods like nuts, poultry, fish, eggs and mushrooms, while cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watercress are high in sulforaphane.
The preventive usefulness of antioxidants was demonstrated a long time ago. American researchers are now trying to determine2 if they could alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy. Vitamins A, C and E are under study, as is beta-carotene.
In 2002, 136,900 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in Canada. Thirty-eight percent of men and 41% of women are at risk of being affected in their lifetime.
For its part, the American Institute of Medicine estimates that a change in lifestyle habits, including smoking, could prevent 100,000 new cases and 60,000 cancer-related deaths by 2015.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to ACS News, March 14, 2003; BBC News, April 1; and Le Soleil and WHO, April 3, 2003.
1. Link to the WHO press release: www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr27/en/index.html
2. Zhang J, Svehlikova VV, Bao Y, Howie AF, Beckett GJ, Williamson G. Synergy between sulforaphane and selenium in the induction of thioredoxin reductase 1 requires both transcriptional and translational modulation.Carcinogenesis 2003 Mar; 24 (3): 497-503. [Consulté le 4 avril 2003].
3. Drisko JA, Chapman J, Hunter VJ. The use of antioxidant therapies during chemotherapy.Gynecol Oncol 2003 Mar; 88 (3): 434-9. [Consulté le 4 avril 2003].