Prevention: It is now possible to prevent 60 per cent of cancers that occur during a person's lifetime, according to one of the world's leading cancer experts. Dr Muiris Houston, Medical Correspondent, reports.
Dr John Seffrin, president of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and chief executive of the American Cancer Society (ACS) said yesterday that 43 per cent of the 10.8 million cancer deaths worldwide can be attributed to tobacco, diet or infection.
Speaking ahead of the World Conference for Cancer Organisations which takes place in Dublin this week, Dr Seffrin said cancer incidence rates were increasing as a result of global ageing.
He said there was a need to intensify our prevention efforts now if the world was to stop the number of cancer cases rising by 50 per cent by the year 2020.
"In addition, one third of all cancer deaths could be averted if diagnosed earlier and treated effectively", he told The Irish Times. He pointed to cervical cancer and breast cancer screening in women as good examples of how early detection has changed the implication of a cancer diagnosis.
"As a result of the early detection of breast cancer, 95 per cent of women diagnosed with the disease are alive five years after treatment," he said, adding: "We have made huge progress in this area."
While not wishing to comment on the absence of a national cervical screening programme in the Republic, Dr Seffrin did acknowledge the state of the art cervical screening services in developed countries such as the UK, France, Germany, the US and Canada. "Cervical cancer screening can be carried out inexpensively," he noted.
With regard to colon cancer screening, he said the ACS was currently looking at colonoscopy (the examination of the bowel using a fibre-optic telescope) and other tests to see what was the most appropriate screening tool to detect bowel cancer.
He congratulated the Republic on being the first country in the world to designate work and public places smoke free. "Giving up smoking is the single most effective intervention to avoid dying prematurely. We know that one third of deaths from all cancers are due to cigarette smoke."
"The American Cancer Society has shown that if a female smoker can quit before the age of 50, her risk of death in midlife (35-69 years) will then be the same as someone who never smoked," he noted.