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Adherence to the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations and risk of lifestyle-related cancers in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial.

About this Publication
Title
Adherence to the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations and risk of lifestyle-related cancers in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial.
Pubmed ID
41261199 (View this publication on the PubMed website)
Digital Object Identifier
Publication
BJC Rep. 2025 Nov 19; Volume 3 (Issue 1): Pages 81
Authors
Malcomson FC, Shams-White MM, Reedy J, Huang WY, Moore SC, Loftfield E
Affiliations
  • Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Rockville, MD, USA.
  • Population Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • Risk Factor Assessment Branch, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, NCI, Rockville, MD, USA.
  • Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Rockville, MD, USA. Erikka.loftfield@nih.gov.
Abstract

BACKGROUND: The 2018 World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF)/American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Cancer Prevention Recommendations aim to lower cancer incidence. Our study explored associations between adherence to these Recommendations and the risk of first cancer incidence in a US cohort.

METHODS: Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial Study participants who were cancer-free at baseline and who had height, weight, physical activity, diet, and alcohol data to estimate the standardized 2018 WCRF/AICR Score (n = 69,061) were included. Associations between Score and cancer endpoints, including any cancers, any of the 17 WCRF/AICR-reviewed cancers, and individual cancer sites were investigated using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models, adjusting for covariates.

RESULTS: Mean Score was 3.55 points (range 0-7). During a median follow-up of 10 years, 11,109 participants developed cancer. The 2018 WCRF/AICR Score was significantly inversely associated with risk of any cancers (HR per 1-point increment:0.97; 95% CI: 0.95-0.99), any of the 17 WCRF/AICR-reviewed cancers (HR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.95-0.99), pancreatic (HR:0.86; 95% CI: 0.78-0.96), and breast (HR:0.91; 95% CI: 0.87-0.96) cancers.

DISCUSSION: Our findings support adherence to the WCRF/AICR Cancer Prevention Recommendations for reducing risk of cancer incidence, particularly breast and pancreatic cancers, in the US.

CLINICAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: The PLCO Cancer Screening Trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00002540 (Prostate), NCT01696968 (Lung), NCT01696981 (Colorectal), NCT01696994 (Ovarian), and NCT00339495 (EEMS).

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