BACKGROUND: We investigated the associations between adherence to the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) lifestyle-related Cancer Prevention Recommendations and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality in a prospective cohort study. METHODS: We included 17,332 participants from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study who participated in the second follow-up assessment in 2003-07 and were re-assessed for diet, body size, and lifestyle. Participants were followed for mortality outcomes through June 2021. We constructed a diet score and a standardised lifestyle score based on core WCRF/AICR recommendations, as well as a lifestyle score including abstinence from smoking. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for associations between quintiles of the diet and lifestyle scores and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality using Cox regression. RESULTS: During follow-up (mean=17 years), 4742 total deaths and 1343 deaths due to cancer were documented. Higher WCRF/AICR standardised lifestyle score (i.e., greater adherence) was associated with lower cancer-specific (HR 0.74; 95% CI: 0.61-0.90 for highest quintile vs lowest quintile) and overall mortality (HR 0.90; 95% CI 0.81-0.99). CONCLUSION: Our findings reinforce the importance of adhering to established lifestyle-based cancer prevention guidelines for improving longevity.
Mathew et al. (Sat,) studied this question.