Population attributable fractions continue to unmask the power of prevention
A partir de données britanniques portant sur l'année 2015, cette étude analyse la part des cancers attribuable à des facteurs de risque comportementaux (tabagisme, surpoids/obésité, etc.)
The population attributable fraction is a critical driver of evidence-based cancer prevention. With an increasing recognition of the need for high-level investment in cancer control, there is an overwhelming need for a new generation of descriptive studies that globally promote the long-term public health and economic benefits of cancer prevention. In planning and prioritising cancer prevention strategies, the population attributable fraction (PAF) is established as an indispensable quantifier of the number of new cancer cases (or deaths) attributable to key modifiable risk factors. Brown and colleagues in this issue of the British Journal of Cancer provide estimates of the proportion of new cancers attributable to such risk factors in the UK in 2015.1 Nearly 4 in 10 cancers are attributed to the determinants included in the study, representing 135,000 new cancer cases. Tobacco smoking remains the most important cause of cancer, followed by being overweight or obese, which is consistent with previous estimates from 2010.2 The authors indicate that many of the most commonly diagnosed cancers, including lung and melanoma, can be directly attributed to the majority (>70%) of risk factors included in this updated study, highlighting the vast potential to reduce the cancer burden through directed primary prevention actions (...)