Cancer Prevention Research & Policy Blog

Two years after the adoption of the United Nations Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), the time has come for governments to reaffirm their commitment to tackling what have become the world’s biggest killers – cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and respiratory diseases.

The World Health Assembly

At the annual World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva next week NCDs feature prominently on the agenda, a reflection of the increasing recognition worldwide of the need to address NCDs as a priority.

The decisions taken at this Assembly of 194 countries … Continue Reading

This is the second in a series of four blog posts that explore key research topics from our recent conference: Obesity, physical activity and cancer.

Kate Wolin, ScD, FACSM  is an Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences at Loyola University Chicago. Her research focuses on the role of physical activity and obesity in cancer prevention and post diagnosis outcomes.

Hundreds of studies have shown exercise reduces risk of several common cancers, but we still have much to learn about this important prevention tool.

Data consistently shows individuals who are … Continue Reading

WCRF International has joined forces with the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) to hold a conference designed to foster scientific understanding and progress in the field of obesity, physical activity and cancer and to help shape the future scientific agenda in this exciting research area. This is the first in a series of four blog posts that will explore some of the key conference topics.

Michael Leitzmann, M.D., Dr.P.H., chairs the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Regensburg, Germany. His main research … Continue Reading

Jonathan Liberman is the Director of the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer.

At our recent McCabe Centre – Norwegian Cancer Society workshop, ‘Using the law effectively for cancer control in Europe’, WCRF International’s Corinna Hawkes posed some interesting questions about the nature and role of evidence in the development, implementation and defence of regulation.

Corinna posed her questions in relation to diet and nutrition policy in particular, but they are relevant and timely across other areas of cancer (and NCD) prevention more broadly, including tobacco and alcohol policy.

Evidence

There are, of course, … Continue Reading

WCRF is developing a new method to review mechanistic research.

When it comes to research it always feels like I’m slipping pieces into a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes you can see the picture even if you don’t have every piece but it’s always clearer the more pieces there are in place. One new piece for WCRF is the development of a process to systematically review mechanistic studies. While we’ve had a similar process for epidemiological (epi) studies for years, we’re now looking to take analysis of mechanistic studies to the next level.

New … Continue Reading

Corinna Hawkes is the Head of Policy and Public Affairs for WCRF International. She is a specialist in food policy and Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Food Policy, City University, London.

What’s the role of legislation in modern society, a society so big, so global, that even in our own local, lived out lives, it is impossible to have personal relationships with everyone?

Why do we have legislation?

Some years ago I was involved in a report that looked at the issue of food waste. During the process, I came across an interesting … Continue Reading

Professor Martin Wiseman is the Medical and Scientific Adviser with World Cancer Research Fund International and a visiting professor at Southampton University.

What is it about nutrition that makes it important for the prevention of so many chronic diseases?

One of the most striking illustrations of the scope for preventing cancer is the huge variation in its occurrence – the different patterns around the globe, and how relatively rapidly they can change. And that variation is a key to understanding the causes of cancer.

Susceptibility

What has become clear is that the main factors that … Continue Reading

Dr Helen Jamison is Deputy Director of the Science Media Centre, an independent press office helping to ensure the public have access to the best scientific evidence and expertise through the news media when science hits the headlines.

Enter the word “cancer” into any internet search engine and you will be bombarded by results. Switch on the television or open your daily newspaper and the effect is the same: hundreds of articles about cancer, its causes and cures, the latest scare or breakthrough. Cancer is one of the media’s most … Continue Reading

Changing people’s behaviour is complex, and at the root of many health issues. Should they be gently nudged to make healthier choices or have those choices effectively made for them? It’s a question that often confronts those of us working in health.

People’s behaviour is already influenced by their existing social, economic and physical circumstances, and policies that address these can help tip the balance from an obesogenic environment towards one that makes it easier to make healthier choices. After all, it’s clear that pricing and availability influence consumer behaviour … Continue Reading

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study published today there were three times more deaths attributed to excess body weight in 2010 than to malnutrition.

But should we be surprised? Health experts have been warning us for years of a growing obesity epidemic and the health problems related to our ever-expanding waistlines.

Given the strong link between obesity and cancer, it’s not unexpected then that the report also highlights that the numbers of people dying from cancer are up by more than a third in the past 20 years … Continue Reading

Increasingly more and more people are surviving cancer – which is good news. However, the research into cancer survivorship isn’t as developed as that of primary cancer prevention. Studies of people that have been through cancer treatment can provide vital information that will help us understand what behaviours impact survival and cancer recurrence.

Ultimately, we need good evidence-based guidance for cancer survivors.

That’s where our grant programme comes in. It’s designed to answer the key research questions in the complex relationship between diet, physical activity, body weight, and cancer … Continue Reading

Following our recent report that reviewed the latest evidence on pancreatic cancer risk we have put together an infographic for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month that captures the key risk factors and the scale of the problem.

Pancreatic cancer is often advanced by the time someone experiences symptoms, which means people often don’t consult a doctor until it’s too late. Less than one in five survive the disease a year after diagnosis.

The latest prevention research confirms that you can help avoid pancreatic cancer by maintaining a healthy weight. Excess body weight and smoking both increase risk.

Check out the risk factors and … Continue Reading

This September marked the one-year anniversary of the UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Reaching this milestone is a good opportunity to reflect upon the progress towards implementing the Political Declaration that was adopted by the General Assembly last year.

There were a number of key action points to emerge from the Political Declaration, including the recommendation to develop a new Global Action Plan on NCDs, work on which continues. Another action point was to develop a global monitoring framework on NCDs with a set of … Continue Reading

It has been bubbling over for a while but the lid has finally blown off the open access publishing pot. First the Wellcome Trust turned up the heat by giving teeth to its existing policy demanding open access publishing for its funded research.

Sir Mark Walport, the director of the Wellcome Trust, said ‘…despite our open access policy having been in place for over five years, still almost half of these publications [from grants funded by the Trust] remain restricted behind subscription pay walls. This is simply unacceptable and … Continue Reading

Professor Hilary Powers, Human Nutrition Unit, Department of Oncology, University of Sheffield, UK.

In June 2012 the Continuous Update Project  (CUP) Panel, of which I am a member, met in London to discuss the updated evidence for associations between food, nutrition, physical activity and the risk of pancreatic cancer. Since the last review for the Second Expert Report in 2007 a further 79 articles from cohort studies or randomised controlled trials have been added to the CUP database bringing the total number for this cancer to … Continue Reading

Corinna Hawkes is currently serving as Interim Head of Policy and Public Affairs for WCRF International. She is a specialist in food policy and Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Food Policy, City University, London.

Recently, WCRF International submitted its response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Discussion Paper  on the process of developing a new NCD Action Plan for 2013-2020. The last WHO NCD Action Plan (2008-2013) – the document produced by WHO to guide action … Continue Reading

The success of the UN high-level meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) last September will help ensure that these diseases get the political priority they deserve.

The recent recognition of NCDs as part of the sustainable development agenda at Rio+20 is another move in the right direction but this global recognition of the NCD epidemic needs to be translated into action to ensure long-term impact.

Prevention should be central to the ongoing work fleshing out a global action plan on NCDs. Like the other major NCDs cancer is largely preventable. About a third of … Continue Reading

Recently our UK charity was in the news about the number of UK cases of stomach cancer that could be prevented by cutting salt intake to the recommended daily amount of six grams. The levels of interest from the UK media prompted us to explore what is happening with salt intake globally.

Salt is necessary for human health and life itself but in wealthier countries where the consumption of processed foods is high, and in countries where traditional diets are high in salt, total salt intake is at much higher … Continue Reading

With the Olympics finally upon us – in the literal sense for those of us living in London – there has been a highly charged media debate over the role of McDonalds and Coca-Cola as ‘top sponsors’ and the marketing of junk food.

If you were lucky enough to see the Olympic flame pass through London on its final approach to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, you may have been surprised to see the relay being led by buses emblazoned with Coca-Cola branding. You may also have been … Continue Reading

Most people think about tobacco if they think about the law and cancer. Certainly the tobacco control community has been very effective in using law as a policy tool. The 2003 WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, signed by 168 countries, was the first truly global public health treaty.

Much can be learned from the tobacco experience but work in the area of law and cancer is going to become increasingly important for public health prevention in other areas.

The September 2011 UN … Continue Reading

We’ve recently welcomed scientists to our London office to review some of the latest research findings from the WCRF/AICR’s Continuous Update Project (CUP)  on cancer prevention.

Members of the CUP Panel, all eminent scientists (link to CUP panel page), are responsible for reviewing and making judgments and recommendations based on the body of scientific evidence that is collated by the CUP. This covers cancer prevention research – related to food, nutrition and physical activity – that is being conducted … Continue Reading

A favourite mantra in health policy circles of late has been “what gets measured, gets done.”

Of course, the flipside is what doesn’t get measured, doesn’t necessarily get done. In developing a set of non-communicable disease (NCD) targets, there is a risk that some very important areas will be missed. The challenge is balancing the need for an ambitious and comprehensive set of targets, with the call … Continue Reading