Lifestyle-driven cancer risk persists despite Singapore’s prevention efforts: Oncologists

Discover how lifestyle risks are impacting cancer cases in Singapore and the multi-faceted approach needed for effective cancer prevention and screening. Read more at straitstimes.com.

SINGAPORE – Lifestyle-related risk factors may increase the prevalence of cancer cases here, despite Singapore’s strong cancer prevention policies, said oncologists.

Achieving a substantial drop in cancer cases will require a multifaceted approach that includes the implementation of effective screening programmes, they add.

The World Health Organization unveiled research in February, suggesting that almost four in 10 cancer cases worldwide were linked to preventable causes such as smoking, drinking and air pollution.

Published in the journal Nature Medicine, the study called for “context-specific prevention strategies” such as strong tobacco control measures as well as vaccination against HPV and other cancer-causing infections like hepatitis B. 

While these findings are applicable to Singapore, the Republic’s more urbanised lifestyle means statistics here may differ slightly from global averages, said Dr Gloria Chan, a consultant with the haematology-oncology department at the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS).

“Singapore is a high-income, ageing society, so lifestyle-related risks play a larger role compared with other countries where infection-related cancers are more dominant,” she said.