Over the last year or so there has been a number of well publicized studies linking aspirin with a reduction in the risk of developing various forms of cancer. Many people will be wondering if the decreased risk of cancer is sufficient to justify taking a low dose aspirin daily. While doctors normally recommend a low dose aspirin regime to prevent myocardial infarction in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, most shy away from recommending low dose aspirin to apparently healthy individuals.

Did you know that your chances of beating cancer depend on the season you are diagnosed in? It may seem bizarre but a large number of studies have found that individuals who are diagnosed with cancer in the summer have a better cancer prognosis than those diagnosed in the winter, apparently due to increased production of vitamin D by the body over the summer months.

A 2004 study, published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control, looked at the effect of sunlight on the prognosis of colon, breast, and prostate cancer in Norway. The researchers found that the case-fatality rate was higher in winter than in other seasons for all three forms of cancer.

A quick look at the latest figures from SEER, the statistical database provided by the National Cancer Institute, shows that survival rates for most forms of cancer have increased dramatically over the past 30 years or so. Overall, 5 year cancer survival rates have increased from 48.9% in 1975 to 66.7% in 2003. The following graph shows 5-year survival rates for some of the most common forms of cancer.

Colorectal cancer is an extremely common and often fatal form of cancer. In the United States, it is the fourth most common type of cancer and is second only to lung cancer in terms of mortality with almost 52,000 deaths in the USA alone last year. The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer for a 30 year old living in the United States today is 5.24%. Although great advances have been made in recent years in the early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer, the 5-year survival rate from diagnosis is only 65%, much lower than the survival rates for some other common types of cancer such as breast, skin, and prostate cancer.

Regular consumption of fish may reduce the risk of developing many forms of cancer including cancers of the esophagus, mouth, stomach, colon, and pancreas according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in July 1999.

The study, conducted by Italian researchers, involved the comparison of over 8,000 people who had been diagnosed with various forms of cancer with 7,990 control subjects who were free of cancer.

A report, published by the Cancer Institute NSW in Australia has found that alcohol might be more strongly linked to cancer than previous thought.

The authors of the report reviewed the findings of 634 previous studies to determine the link between alcohol consumption and the risk of various cancers. In total, cancer risk was found to be 22% higher in people who consumed four alcoholic drinks a day compared to non-drinkers and 90% higher in those who consumed eight alcoholic drinks a day. On the other hand, consumption of two alcoholic drinks a day appeared to have little or no effect on cancer risk.

A recent analysis of 156 research studies has found that moderate alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing several forms of cancer including cancers of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, breast, colon, and liver.

The study, published in the journal Preventive Medicine in 2004, involved the analysis of data from 156 studies involving a total of 116,702 individuals in order to determine the effects of alcohol consumption on cancer rates.

Most people know that being overweight increases your risk of developing diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. What a lot of people don’t realise however is that being overweight also increases your risk of developing many forms of cancer.

The most comprehensive study on the environmental and lifestyle factors responsible for cancer is known as “The Cancer Prevention Study 2″. The study was conducted from 1982 to 1997 and followed 1.2 million American men and women

Just one hour of walking a week could be enough exercise to reduce a persons colon cancer risk by almost a third according to a recent American study published in the International Journal of Cancer.

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine followed over 79,000 women between the ages of 40 and 65 for a period of 16 years. 547 women developed colon cancer over the study period.