European Code against Cancer 4th Edition: 12 ways to reduce your cancer risk

Abstract

This overview describes the principles of the 4th edition of the European Code against Cancer and provides an introduction to the 12 recommendations to reduce cancer risk. Among the 504.6 million inhabitants of the member states of the European Union (EU28), there are annually 2.64 million new cancer cases and 1.28 million deaths from cancer. It is estimated that this cancer burden could be reduced by up to one half if scientific knowledge on causes of cancer could be translated into successful prevention. The Code is a preventive tool aimed to reduce the cancer burden by informing people how to avoid or reduce carcinogenic exposures, adopt behaviours to reduce the cancer risk, or to participate in organised intervention programmes. The Code should also form a base to guide national health policies in cancer prevention. The 12 recommendations are: not smoking or using other tobacco products; avoiding second-hand smoke; being a healthy body weight; encouraging physical activity; having a healthy diet; limiting alcohol consumption, with not drinking alcohol being better for cancer prevention; avoiding too much exposure to ultraviolet radiation; avoiding cancer-causing agents at the workplace; reducing exposure to high levels of radon; encouraging breastfeeding; limiting the use of hormone replacement therapy; participating in organised vaccination programmes against hepatitis B for newborns and human papillomavirus for girls; and participating in organised screening programmes for bowel cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer.

Status of implementation and organization of cancer screening in The European Union Member States—Summary results from the second European screening report

“…2,3 The EU Council in a series of recommendations published in 2003, urged the Member States to introduce or scale up breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening through systematic population-based approach with quality assurance at all levels. 4 The first report on the implementation of the Council recommendations prepared by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that the number of individuals having access to population-based screening in the year 2007 was much lower than the desired level and substantial opportunistic screening was ongoing in the Member States, targeting nearly 100 million men and women.…”

“…2 In Austria a population based screening programme is implemented only in the state of Burgenland, since 2003. In the rest of the country screening is opportunistic.…”

Primary and secondary prevention of breast cancer

“…The risk of cancer increases depending on alcohol dose in combination with biological mechanisms, where ethanol and its genotoxide metabolism and acetaldehyde play an important role [30]. When consuming 10g of ethanol daily the risk of breast cancer increases by 8% in the postmenopausal period, by 9% before menopause and by 10% in general [31].…”

Európai Rákellenes Kódex: 12 lehetőség, hogy csökkentse a rák kialakulásának kockázatát

“…A kódex harmadik, majd negyedik revíziója [10,11] tekintetbe veszi a tudományos kutatások újabb eredményeit (például HPV elleni oltás), és a korábbi "Tízpa-rancsolatot" 12 ajánlássá bővítve adja közre (1. táblázat).…”