Expert says Wembley Stadium could be filled with 'preventable' cancer cases

May 15 2008

A British cancer expert has come up with a novel way of illustrating how a healthy lifestyle can beat cancer.

Professor Martin Wiseman, of the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), says more than 95,000 sufferers could have cut their risk by not smoking, eating healthily, taking exercise and not putting on weight - enough to fill Wembley Stadium.

Experts say a third of people are diagnosed with cancer which could have been prevented by changes in diet and lifestyle.

Professor Wiseman says when health charities talk in numbers, it can often be difficult to comprehend and by comparing it to something easier to imagine, such as the capacity of Wembley, the scale of the problem can be easily shown.

The WCRF warning is timely as it comes when there is growing concern that expanding waistlines, coupled with binge-drinking, lack of exercise and poor diet are fuelling cancer.

The WCRF says cases of womb cancer which is twice as common in the obese, have risen by a fifth over the past decade, while kidney cancer, also linked to obesity, went up by 14 per cent; mouth cancer, which is associated with smoking and drinking, have increased by almost a quarter in a decade.

Cancer prevention advice includes staying slim, exercising at least half an hour a day and eating more fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and pulses.

Almost 285,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year and nearly 155,000 die.

Professor Wiseman, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists, says it is worth remembering that for every single one of these cases, there is a devastating impact on the lives of people who are diagnosed and also on their families, apart from the financial cost of treatment.

He says more needs to be done to promote the message that relatively simple changes can make a real difference to people's cancer risk.

Cancer prevention advice includes being as lean as possible without becoming underweight, exercising for at least half an hour a day and eating more fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and pulses - smokers are advised to quit, intake of alcohol should be limited to one or two drinks a day and skin should be covered in the sun.

A report issued by the WCRF last year also recommended avoiding processed meat and limiting the intake of red meat to 18oz (500g) a week.