Abstract P3-10-06: What is the latest evidence on diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer – key findings from the WCRF/AICR continuous update project
Authors: Thune I , Allen K , Thompson RL , Wiseman MJ , Mitrou P , McGinley-Gieser D 
Published: February 2018

Introduction:

Since 1997, World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) International and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) have been at the forefront of synthesizing and interpreting the accumulated scientific literature on the link between diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer, and deriving evidence-based Cancer Prevention Recommendations. The 2007 WCRF/AICR 2nd Expert Report, using a robust method and systematic literature reviews, was a landmark in the analysis of evidence linking diet, body weight and physical activity to cancer and led to the establishment of the Continuous Update Project (CUP). New findings from the CUP systematic review have been released for 12 cancers, and updated findings for breast cancer have just been released. The 2018 WCRF/AICR 3rd Expert Report, to be published in 2018, will include a new review of the WCRF/AICR Cancer Prevention Recommendations.

Methods:

The review was conducted as part of the Continuous Update Project (CUP).

The research team at Imperial College London searched PubMed for relevant prospective studies up to April 30, 2015.

Dose-response meta-analyses were conducted and summary relative risks (RR) were calculated using a random effects model. Analyses comparing the highest versus the lower categories were also conducted. An international panel of experts (CUP Panel) reviewed the evidence and drew conclusions.

Results:

The updated Breast Cancer Report included 119 studies from around the world, comprising more than 12 million women and over 260,000 cases of breast cancer.

The latest evidence suggests that vigorous physical exercise reduces your risk of breast cancer before menopause by 17%. In addition, the report reconfirms the link between physical activity and decreased risk of breast cancer after menopause. Taking at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, such as brisk walking, or 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity each day can reduce your risk of breast cancer after menopause by 10%.

Greater body fatness and weight gain as an adult does increase the risk of breast cancer after menopause. However, in contrast we observed greater body fatness in young adulthood may reduce breast cancer risk both before and after menopause.

The report found strong evidence that drinking just the equivalent of a small glass of wine or half a pint of beer a day (about 10g alcohol content), could increase your pre-menopausal breast cancer risk by 5% and your post-menopausal breast cancer risk by 9%.

Conclusions:

Recent evidence has resulted in new findings and changes to the CUP Panel's conclusions from the 2010 Breast Cancer Report with regard to physical activity and body fatness at different life periods. In addition, new evidence confirmed their judgements on alcohol.

The CUP provides a unique resource synthesizing epidemiological and other evidence on diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer, to facilitate related research, and underpin advice to the public and policy-makers.

Evidence is accumulating that the degree of adherence to WCRF/AICR recommendations is associated with lower mortality of cancer overall, of specific cancers and of all-cause mortality.

Citation Format: Thune I, Allen K, Thompson RL, Wiseman MJ, Mitrou P, McGinley-Gieser D. What is the latest evidence on diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer – key findings from the WCRF/AICR continuous update project [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-10-06.