Guideline Adherence Cuts Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women

THURSDAY, Jan. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- All-cause and cancer-specific mortality is lower in postmenopausal women who follow the American Cancer Society (ACS) Nutrition and Physical Activity Cancer Prevention Guidelines, according to research published in the January issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

Cynthia A. Thomson, M.D., of the University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues analyzed data for 65,838 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. The authors sought to assess how the ACS cancer prevention guidelines for healthy eating, physical activity, and avoiding or limiting alcohol intake, affect risk of cancer and mortality.

The researchers found that, at a median follow-up of 12.6 years, postmenopausal women with the highest scores, compared with those with the lowest scores, for ACS guidelines had a 17 percent lower risk of any cancer, 22 percent lower risk of breast cancer, and 52 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer. Following the ACS guidelines was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of cancer-specific mortality and a 27 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality for postmenopausal women with the highest scores compared with those with the lowest scores.

"Behaviors concordant with Nutrition and Physical Activity Cancer Prevention Guidelines were associated with lower risk of total, breast, and colorectal cancers and lower cancer-specific mortality in postmenopausal women," the authors write.

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