OBESITY has become the biggest preventable risk factor for cancer in Australia after smoking, a study from the World Health Organization has shown.

The 2014 World Cancer Report, last released six years ago, also showed that cancer has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in Australia and almost every other country, killing an estimated eight million people globally each year, including more than 43,000 Australians.

This number is expected to rise to 20 million globally by 2025.

The majority of cancer-related deaths in Western countries are due to lifestyle factors such as weight, alcohol intake and physical inactivity, said Terry Slevin, a spokesman for the Cancer Council Australia.

Approximately 5% of cancer incidence is caused by alcohol consumption.

“For non-smokers, the single biggest preventable cause of cancer is obesity in terms of the number of cancer sites affected,” Mr Slevin told MO.

Australia also has one the highest incidence of cancer, third in the world behind Denmark and France, due to our ageing population and successful screening programs.
“In a perverse way, a high rate of cancer indicates a relatively healthy population because it indicates a longer life expectancy, Australia is in the top four in terms of life expectancy,” Mr Slevin said.

Mirroring worldwide trends, Australia has seen an increase in the incidence of breast cancer and prostate cancer, largely due to systematic screening, an effect that is expected to be seen also with the continued roll-out of bowel cancer screening.

Reassuringly, Mr Slevin said, mortality from cancer has also decreased in developing countries thanks to early detection and developments in treatment, and Australia has also seen a slight decrease in incidence of melanoma.

The report estimated the global cost of cancer to be $1.33 trillion a year in 2010, equating to 2% of the world’s GDP, a figure that could be reduced by up to $200 billion a year if more was done to prevent cancer.