World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRFI) is a not-for-profit organisation that leads a network of cancer prevention charities, including the American Institute for Cancer Research, World Cancer Research Fund in the UK, Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds in the Netherlands and World Cancer Research Fund Hong Kong. They are dedicated to funding research on cancer, specifically how diet, weight, and physical activity affect cancer risk and survival.
Dr Panagiota Mitrou, the Executive Director of Research and Policy, discusses WCRFI’s efforts in supporting cancer prevention
What does the latest research tell us about the role of diet, weight and physical activity in preventing and treating cancer?
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with cases expected to skyrocket from 20 million in 2022 to 35 million annually by 2050. (1) However, around 40% of cancer cases are preventable through modifiable risk factors, such as not smoking, being safe in the sun, not drinking alcohol, adopting a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and being physically active.
Historically, cancer was often perceived as a matter of chance, with limited understanding of prevention. Since 1982, World Cancer Research Fund International has challenged that mindset and funded research on cancer prevention. Through our Global Cancer Update Programme (CUP Global), we have analysed decades of research around the world and synthesised the evidence on diet, weight and physical activity to develop Cancer Prevention Recommendations.
Our recommendations represent a comprehensive package of behaviours that, when taken together, promote a healthy pattern of diet and physical activity conducive to the prevention of cancer, other noncommunicable diseases, and obesity. A growing body of
evidence is showing that adherence to these Cancer Prevention Recommendations is associated with lower risk of developing cancer and other NCDs, but also lower
risk of dying from cancer.
World Cancer Research Fund International-funded research is also uncovering the role of diet, nutrition and physical activity in cancer treatment and survivorship. Patients undergoing treatment could benefit from tailored dietary and physical activity guidance to help manage side effects, improve quality of life and treatment outcomes and prevent recurrence.
What are some common barriers to effective cancer prevention strategies?
Following our Cancer Prevention Recommendations could save millions of lives and reduce healthcare costs. (2) Just one cancer risk factor – unhealthy weight – is projected to cost the global economy over US$4 trillion a year by 2035, (3) with obesity surpassing smoking as the leading cancer risk by the same year. (4)
We have developed a Policy Blueprint for Cancer Prevention, a groundbreaking guide to reducing cancer risks worldwide. This resource brings together the latest evidence on cancer prevention and practical policy recommendations to help governments and policymakers take bold, coordinated action on cancer risk factors.
Effective prevention requires governments to design and implement a range of policies to support healthy environments. However, despite compelling evidence that prevention is cost-effective, progress at policy level remains slow. Policymakers tend to prefer public information campaigns or voluntary industry agreements – which have limited impact – to structural policies such as taxes or fiscal incentives. Meanwhile, powerful industries such as unhealthy foods or alcohol manufacturers resist policies such as marketing restrictions or mandatory labelling that clearly inform people of the health harms.
What are your hopes for WCRFI’s Policy Blueprint for Cancer Prevention?
Our Policy Blueprint for Cancer Prevention focuses on creating healthier environments, addressing modifiable risk factors and supporting people living with and beyond cancer. Designed as a one-stop-shop for policymakers, the Blueprint integrates our established
NOURISHING and MOVING nutrition and physical activity policy frameworks with proven, evidence-based policy recommendations from World Health Organization and other global health leaders.
Accompanying the Policy Blueprint are ten policy factsheets, each focusing on a specific Cancer Prevention Recommendation. They provide in-depth guidance and actionable insights on rolling out effective policies, such as restricting harmful marketing or healthier built urban environments, for policymakers to drive change.
By bridging scientific recommendations and policy, we hope the Blueprint creates greater awareness of how different policy areas – nutrition, physical activity, alcohol, breastfeeding – contribute to cancer prevention. It empowers advocacy communities to bring cancer prevention to the forefront of their efforts and make a more compelling case for action, such as in national cancer plans.
The Policy Blueprint also highlights the broader benefits of prevention policies, such as reducing other noncommunicable diseases, supporting human rights and meeting climate targets.
What are WCRFI’s most pressing research priorities currently?
Global Cancer Update Programme
World Cancer Research Fund International’s CUP Global analyses global research on how diet, nutrition and physical activity affect cancer risk and survival. To further our understanding of the modifiable factors that shape the risk of developing cancer and the chances of surviving it, we have identified six new topics to investigate, including ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks and artificial sweeteners, sedentary behaviour and others. Keep updated with our latest findings.
Research funding
World Cancer Research Fund International runs a Regular Grant Programme to support innovative and original research into the role of diet, nutrition, body composition and physical activity in either cancer prevention or cancer survivorship. We also run the
INSPIRE Research Challenge, aimed at early-career investigators, which prioritises innovative, bold and creative proposals with the potential to catalyse rapid and impactful advances in cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship.
What’s next?
The rising cancer burden will place significant strain on individuals, health systems and societies. In this context, prevention is the only sustainable way forward, and our Policy Blueprint offers a roadmap for action.
We aim to work with national governments to tailor guidance to national contexts and improve the uptake and implementation of cancer prevention policies. As the global community prepares for the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases, we will advocate for a stronger political declaration that puts prevention at its core.
Achieving this vision will require bold policy decisions, sustained investment, and global collaboration. By working together, we can reduce the cancer burden.
References
- International Agency for Research on Cancer. Cancer tomorrow [online].
Updated Globocan 2022 (version 1.1). [Accessed August 2, 2024] Available
from: https://gco.iarc.who.int/tomorrow/en - Springmann M, et al. Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change
cobenefits of dietary change. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences 113.15 (2016): 4146-4151 - World Obesity Federation. World Obesity Atlas 2023. London: World Obesity
Federation; 2023 - World Health Organization. WHO European Regional Obesity Report.
Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2022
