A large proportion of cancer cases and deaths among US individuals who are white could be prevented if people quit smoking, avoid heavy drinking, maintain a BMI between 18.5 and 27.5, and do moderate weekly exercise for at least 150 minutes or vigorous exercise for at least 75 minutes, according to the researchers.
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health in the US analysed data from two study groups of white individuals to examine the associations between a "healthy lifestyle pattern" and cancer incidence and death.
Individuals who met all four criteria were considered low risk and everyone else was high risk.
The study included 89,571 women and 46,399 men; 16,531 women and 11,731 had a healthy lifestyle pattern (low-risk group) and the remaining 73,040 women and 34,608 men were high risk.
Also Read
They suggest about 20 per cent to 40 per cent of cancer cases and about half of cancer deaths could potentially be prevented through modifications to adopt the healthy lifestyle pattern of the low-risk group.
The researchers note that including only white individuals in their PAR estimates may not be generalisable to other ethnic groups but the factors they considered have been established as risk factors in diverse ethnic groups too.
The study was published in the journal JAMA Oncology.