BY DEEPAK CHOPRA, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Cancer is the most dreaded of all diseases, ever since a “war on cancer” was declared forty years ago. Although massive research has made progress, very little of this research has been directed at prevention. Advanced medicine, like the average person on the street, has tended to think of cancer as something we have no control over: it happens to us or it doesn’t.
Yet we may be seeing a revolution in our whole approach to cancer. Some highly placed researchers now believe that 90–95% of cancers are preventable with drastic lifestyle changes. This represents a total reversal from what used to be taught in medical school, which held that only 5 percent of cancers could be traced to environmental factors like diet or chemical toxins. If the new view is correct, then for the first time we may have found an open road to ridding society of its most dreaded scourge.
To start, the genetic trail hasn’t led to a cure, only to greater and greater complications. A disease like breast cancer, when examined at the genetic level, isn’t one disease but hundreds. Yet at the opposite extreme, genetic mutations may be playing a much smaller part than anyone ever thought. Craig Venter, who led a private effort to successfully map the human genome, neatly summarizes the situation:
“Human biology is actually far more complicated than we imagine. Everybody talks about the genes that they received from their mother and father, for this trait or the other. But in reality, those genes have very little impact on life outcomes. Our biology is far too complicated for that and deals with hundreds of thousands of independent factors. Genes are absolutely not our fate.”
The Crucial Lifestyle Link
For a vast majority of oncologists, targeting a malignant cell with chemo and radiation, along with surgery to remove the tumor, remains the mainstream approach. The track of prevention is all but unknown to them. There is no doubt that a cell has to mutate in order to become cancerous. Yet an inherited mutation isn’t the same as an acquired mutation, one that develops during the lifetime of the patient. Let’s simplify the case and divide acquired mutations into two types: those that result from accidents and errors on the part of a person’s DNA, and those that are linked to lifestyle. The revolution that is looming in cancer is based on believing that the lifestyle link is so strong that it accounts for 90% or more of cancer occurrences.
What medicine refers to as environmental and lifestyle factors include some familiar culprits – overweight, lack of exercise, poor diet, smoking, overuse of alcohol, and overexposure to UV and other forms of radiation. Of all cancer-related deaths, it’s thought that 25–30% are caused by tobacco; 30–35% are linked to diet; and about 15–20% are due to infections, many of them preventable.
Most of the known risk factors for cancer have one thing in common: they create chronic (long-term) inflammation in the body. Although inflammation is a normal part of your body’s immune system response to injury, when levels of many potent inflammatory chemicals increase and remain in the body, there is an increased risk of cancer.
Taking Steps to Prevent Cancer
The fact that the vast majority of cancers are not caused by genetic defects means that, in most cases, we have the power to modify or eliminate the majority of factors that lead to it. Here are the most important lifestyle choices we can make to prevent cancer:
Maintain a healthy weight
There’s a clear link between obesity and cancer. It’s thought that, in the U.S., excess weight or obesity causes 14% of cancer deaths in men and 20% of cancer deaths in women. Obesity is linked to many cancers, including cancers of the colon, breast, endometrium (uterine lining), esophagus, and kidneys. You can also prevent the many co-morbidities of obesity, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, and osteoarthritis.
Exercise to protect yourself against cancer
Numerous studies have shown that being physically active exerts a protective effect against cancer. Regular exercise lowers levels of IGF-1, a cytokine implicated in tumor growth, and other cytokines in the bloodstream. The lower levels of these cancer promoters are one possible explanation for the protective effect of regular exercise.
Eat anti-cancer foods
It’s estimated that diet causes about one-third of all cancer cases, almost as many as tobacco. Because cancer is so strongly associated with chronic inflammation, eating foods that fight inflammation can have a chemo-protective effect.
Chief among cancer-protective foods are fruits and vegetables. They contain numerous cancer-preventing, anti-inflammatory chemicals, including:
- Carotenoids, especially lycopene, found in watermelon, guava, grapefruit, and tomatoes
- Resveratrol, found in grapes, peanuts, and berries
- Quercitin, found in red grapes, citrus fruits, tomatoes, broccoli, and leafy green vegetables, as well as tea and wine
- Sulforane, found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli
Cancer-fighting chemicals are found in teas and many spices, including:
- Green tea
- Turmeric
- Garlic
- Chiles
- Ginger
- Fenugreek
- Fennel
- Clove
- Cinnamon
- Rosemary
Whole grains contain potent antioxidants and are rich in fiber, which speeds the transit of food through the colon. Eating whole grains has been found to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
Don’t smoke or use tobacco in any form
In the U.S., 30% of cancer deaths are due to tobacco and the use increases the risk for at least 14 different types of cancer. Smoking combined with drinking increases the risk of cancer synergistically. Smokeless tobacco, touted as a “safer” alternative, is responsible for 400,000 cases of oral cancer worldwide – 4% of all cancers.
Drink alcohol only in moderation
If you choose to drink alcohol, do so in moderation (two drinks a day for men, one a day for women). Chronic alcohol consumption is a risk factor for cancers of the upper respiratory and digestive tracts, including cancers of the mouth, throat, and esophagus, as well as for cancers of the liver, lung, and breast.
Avoid UV radiation
Skin cancer is extremely common and frequently fatal, if it isn’t caught in time. Avoid peak radiation hours during the day (10 a.m.–4 p.m.) if possible and artificial sources of UV radiation (like tanning beds and sunlamps). If you can’t avoid being out in the sun, wear a hat and cover exposed areas. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15.
Get immunized
I realize that vaccination, once the pride of preventive medicine, has become a hot-button issue. There are popular movements that attribute many kinds of risks to vaccinations. Let me simply give the accepted protocol here. Vaccination won’t be a priority in cancer prevention, but a thorough approach, as dictated by some oncologists, would target specific cancers through being immunized against them. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical cancer. A protective vaccine is recommended for girls ages 11–12 and for girls and women ages 13–26 who haven’t completed the full vaccine series. Hepatitis B can increase the risk of developing liver cancer. All babies and some high-risk adults should be vaccinated.
For many people, the threat of disease hasn’t been enough to change their lifestyle. However, weighing all the evidence, it’s clear which way the wind is blowing – and the likelihood that cancer is not enmeshed with lifestyle is diminishing year by year. Yes, cancer is immensely complicated, but everything you can do to support your body’s innate intelligence is a positive step in allowing that intelligence to block the cellular changes that create malignancy. A decade from now, I expect that we will tune in and find that this ray of hope has become even brighter.
Deepak Chopra, M.D. is the co-founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, California. If you’d like to learn more about maximizing the power of your body’s inner intelligence, the Chopra Center’s Perfect Health is a 6- or 10-day mind-body wellness program that combines the best in modern Western medicine with the wisdom of Eastern healing traditions. For more information about the Chopra Center’s programs, retreat, and workshops, visit www.chopra.com or call (888)736-6895.
