Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 4;31(10):1983-1992.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-0044.

The 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Score and Cancer Risk: A Longitudinal Analysis in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

Ariella R Korn  1 , Jill Reedy  2 , Nigel T Brockton  3 , Lisa L Kahle  4 , Panagiota Mitrou  5 , Marissa M Shams-White  2
Affiliations

The 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Score and Cancer Risk: A Longitudinal Analysis in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

Ariella R Korn et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. .

Abstract

Background: We examined associations between adherence to the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) Cancer Prevention Recommendations using the standardized 2018 WCRF/AICR Score and cancer risk among older U.S. adults.

Methods: Participants included 215,102 adults in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study followed between 2004 and 2011 (mean 7.0 person-years). Scores (range: 0-7 points) were calculated from self-reported weight, physical activity, and diet and alcohol intake measures. Outcomes included 17 cancers reviewed by WCRF/AICR (cases: male n = 11,066; female n = 8,865) and top three U.S. cancers in males (total n = 4,658; lung n = 2,211; prostate n = 920; colorectal n = 1,527) and females (total n = 5,957; lung n = 1,475; post-menopausal breast n = 3,546; colorectal n = 936). Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated for score and cancer risk associations, stratifying by sex and smoking status.

Results: Each one-point score increase was associated with 6% to 13% reduced cancer risk across combined outcomes, except for male never smokers' risk for top three cancers and male current smokers' risk for both combined cancer outcomes. Higher scores were associated with decreased lung cancer risk only among male former smokers (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.79-0.89) and female current smokers (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82-0.96). Higher scores were associated with 7% to 19% decreased breast cancer risk across smoking strata and 10% to 14% decreased colorectal cancer risk among male and female never and former smokers.

Conclusions: Greater recommendations adherence was associated with reduced cancer risk.

Impact: Findings emphasize the importance of considering combined contributions of multiple lifestyle factors for cancer prevention among older adults and the potential modifying role of smoking history.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Additional information

Conflict of interest disclosure statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Adherence to 2018 WCRF/AICR Score components (n = 215,102 total; n = 124,100 males; n = 91,002 females). Met = 1 point; Partially met = 0.5 points; Did not meet = 0 points. Abbreviations: AICR, American Institute for Cancer Research, WCRF, World Cancer Research Fund.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Cancer Center. Cancer Statistics. 2020; https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics#:~:text=The.... Accessed January 21, 2021.
    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Fuchs HE, Jemal A. Cancer Statistics, 2021. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians. 2021;71(1):7–33. - PubMed
    1. World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research. Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Cancer: A Global Perspective. Continuous Update Project Expert Report 2018 2018; http://dietandcancerreport.org. Accessed 26 January, 2021.
    1. Islami F, Goding Sauer A, Miller KD, Siegel RL, Fedewa SA, Jacobs EJ, et al. Proportion and number of cancer cases and deaths attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors in the United States. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians. 2018;68(1):31–54. - PubMed
    1. Clinton SK, Giovannucci EL, Hursting SD. The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Third Expert Report on Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Cancer: Impact and Future Directions. The Journal of nutrition. 2020;150(4):663–671. - PMC - PubMed