Lecture 7 - Cancer as a preventable disease

Question 1

What percentage of cancers are preventable?

Answer 1

30-50%

Question 2

Examples of countries/continents where lung cancer is greatest cause of cancer death

Answer 2

86 in total,

USA, Canada, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Oceania

Question 3

Lifestyle factors - Tobacco use

Answer 3

Causes 25% of all cancer deaths (biggest preventable cause of cancer)

2.5 million cancer deaths/year

Doll and Hill (1950) first identified link between lung cancer and smoking

Tobacco use associated with number of other cancers e.g. head and neck, stomach cancer

Tobacco smoke contains over 70 known carcinogens, some of which require metabolic activation e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Question 4

Tobacco smoke carcinogenesis