Lifestyle factors and breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Research has identified multiple risk factors that women are exposed to. These may be divided into those that cannot be modified and those that individuals have the power to change. Diet is a modifiable risk factor, as is life style. There is also an accumulating body of evidence showing that physical activity at any age has beneficial effects on decreasing the risk for breast cancer and also on increasing survival. A role for diet and life style in cancer etiology can therefore be identified.
The EUROPA DONNA (ED) Teaching Lecture on Lifestyle Factors and Breast Cancer - Recent Study Results and What they Mean will focus on the latest findings in relation to lifestyle and breast cancer prevention, and provide practical recommendations. Taking place on Friday, 23 March from 8:00 to 8:45, an update on Breast Health Day campaigns will also be given.
A key issue that concerns many health professionals is how to translate scientific findings for the public. Many oncology professionals and healthcare advocates believe that it is important for women to know that their lifestyle choices strongly influence their breast health. This knowledge empowers women and young girls to identify preventative actions they could take to protect their own health. Over time, this could lead to a reduction in occurrences of breast cancer.
This is one of the main reasons why ED -The European Breast Cancer Coalition established ‘Breast Health Day’ (BHD) in 2008 as an annual event to raise public awareness. Efforts to spread the news about study results are wide-ranging and include social networking campaigns on Facebook and Twitter as well as establishing a new BHD website in 2010 to reach a wider audience. The aim of all such campaigns is to translate study results into clear, open and non-threatening messages for women and young girls to ensure they realise that their lifestyle choices may prevent a diagnosis of breast cancer later in life. And ED has an impressive success rate to date. The 2011 campaign entitled “Make Healthy Choices” reached 11,470 people on Facebook and 177,990 on twitter; 4,934 visited the BHD website. 75 percent of BHD Facebook fans are under 44 years of age.

**Boletin 8( ECCO)European Cancer Organization