Plos Med: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can greatly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of death in the United States, according to data.
previous studies have shown that a healthy lifestyle can prevent 20 to 70 per cent of CRC mortality.
, however, it is difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle for long periods of time, especially for people with negative endoscopy screening.
, it is not known whether a healthy lifestyle is the same for people who have already been screened for endoscopy as it is for those who have not been screened for endoscopy.
whether combining a healthy lifestyle with endoscopic screening can prevent CRC is also unknown compared to simple endoscopic screening.
study, published recently in the journal Plos Med, found that adherence to a healthy lifestyle reduced CRC rates and mortality, regardless of endoscopic screening, in two large prospective cohort studies.
Approximately 32 per cent of CRC morbidity and 34 per cent of CRC mortality can be prevented through endoscope screening alone, while the rate of CRC morbidity and mortality increased to 61 per cent and 55 per cent, respectively, in combination with healthy lifestyles, especially for near-end colon cancer.
in this study, researchers assessed the impact of healthy lifestyle and acceptance/failure to receive endoscopic screening on CRC morbidity and mortality in two large U.S. team studies, the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professional Follow-up Study (HPFS).
, 75,873 women and 42,875 men, with an average age of 54.
researchers defined healthy lifestyle scores based on body mass index, smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and diet to assess the risk ratio (HRs) and population attribution risk (PAR) associated with CRC morbidity and mortality associated with healthy lifestyle scores.
results showed that 2,836 CRC cases and 1013 CRC deaths were recorded after 26 years of follow-up.
healthy lifestyle scores were associated with a lower CRC rate, regardless of endoscopy.
The proportion of CRC cases that may be prevented by endoscopic screening alone (PAR) was 32% (95% CI, 31% to 33%), and when combined with a healthy lifestyle (score s 5), increased to 61% (95% CI, 42% to 75%).
For near-end colon cancer, the corresponding PAR increased from 15% (13% to 16%) to 51% (17% to 74%), and for far-end colon cancer, from 47% (45% to 50%) to 75% (61% to 84%).
results of CRC mortality were similar.
The relationship between healthy lifestyle scores and CRC morbidity (Group A) and mortality (Group B), as well as the corresponding age-adjusted morbidity and mortality associated with endoscopy screening and healthy lifestyle, provides strong evidence for strengthening public health measures to prevent colorectal cancer, and that healthy lifestyles are associated with lower CRC incidence and mortality, not endoscopy.
compared with pure endoscopy, combining a healthy lifestyle with endoscopy can significantly enhance the prevention of CRC, especially near-end colon cancer.