Prevention is an effective way to reduce the risk of breast cancer. In a report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Cancer Institute published in 2015, the two institutions state that we can prevent 40% of cancers by modifying our daily behavior.

Alcohol, obesity and tobacco

Based on the results of this study, the number of cases of breast cancer in 2018 can be estimated for the following main risk factors:

– 8700 cases attributed to alcohol abuse;

– 4900 cases due to being overweight or obese;

– 2,600 cases attributable to tobacco consumption;

– 2500 cases of unbalanced diet;

– 1700 cases of lack of physical activity in postmenopausal women.

This means about 20,000 cases of breast cancer attributable to being overweight, alcohol and tobacco consumption, an unbalanced diet and a lack of physical activity.

Focus on prevention

“Prevention, along with early detection, is undoubtedly one of the major levers in the fight against breast cancer,” So the National Cancer Institute insists. Breast cancer remains the most common among women: each year, nearly 59,000 of them learn they have had the disease and more than 12,100 of them die.