European code against cancer 4th edition: 12 ways to reduce your cancer risk
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This overview describes the principles of the 4th edition of the European Code against Cancer and provides an introduction to the 12 recommendations to reduce cancer risk. Among the 504.6 million inhabitants of the member states of the European Union (EU28), there are annually 2.64 million new cancer cases and 1.28 million deaths from cancer. It is estimated that this cancer burden could be reduced by up to one half if scientific knowledge on causes of cancer could be translated into successful prevention. The Code is a preventive tool aimed to reduce the cancer burden by informing people how to avoid or reduce carcinogenic exposures, adopt behaviours to reduce the cancer risk, or to participate in organised intervention programmes. The Code should also form a base to guide national health policies in cancer prevention. The 12 recommendations are: not smoking or using other tobacco products; avoiding second-hand smoke; being a healthy body weight; encouraging physical activity; having a healthy diet; limiting alcohol consumption, with not drinking alcohol being better for cancer prevention; avoiding too much exposure to ultraviolet radiation; avoiding cancer-causing agents at the workplace; reducing exposure to high levels of radon; encouraging breastfeeding; limiting the use of hormone replacement therapy; participating in organised vaccination programmes against hepatitis B for newborns and human papillomavirus for girls; and participating in organised screening programmes for bowel cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer.
Date Issued
2015-07-09
Date Acceptance
2015-03-11
Citation
Cancer Epidemiology, 2015, 39 (Supplement 1), pp.S1-S10
ISSN
1877-7821
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
S1
End Page
S10
Journal / Book Title
Cancer Epidemiology
Volume
39
Issue
Supplement 1
Copyright Statement
© 2015 The Authors. Open Access funded by International Agency for Research on Cancer. Under a Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/
Sponsor
Cancer Research UK
Identifier
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26164654
PII: S1877-7821(15)00127-7
Grant Number
C8171/A16894
Subjects
Cancer prevention
Cancer risk factors
Cancer screening
Europe
European Union
Female
Humans
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Quality Assurance, Health Care
Risk Factors
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
Working Groups of Scientific Experts
1112 Oncology And Carcinogenesis
1117 Public Health And Health Services
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Netherlands