Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Cancer is not a roll of the dice

Your eating and lifestyle habits could help — or hinder — your chances of getting cancer, according to a talk by Harvard nutrition expert Dr. Edward Giovannucci.

Giovannucci, a nutrition and epidemiology professor from Harvard Medical School, gave a talk last Thursday about his research on the determinants of cancer: chance, genetics and lifestyle. Giovannucci is this year’s Jean Andrews Centennial Visiting Professor from the Department of Nutritional Sciences.

During his talk, Giovannucci explained three theories behind who gets cancer: one hypothesizes cancer is mainly caused by bad luck, a product of unlucky cell mutations, while another theory attributes the disease to the genes people are born with, which could predetermine likelihood of a cancer diagnosis. The third theory, which Giovannucci researched, links external habits such as diet and exercise to cancer risks.


“Genetics and chance have roles in cancer risk, but cancer is largely preventable by diet and lifestyle,” Giovannucci said.

Last year, Giovannucci and research fellow Mingyang Song led a study examining how much of a role a healthy diet and lifestyle played in whether or not someone would get cancer. They split over 140,000 people into groups of whether they are at a high risk or low risk of getting cancer based on factors such as smoking and drinking habits, body mass index and regular physical activity.

After comparing the risks between the different groups, the researchers found that a healthy lifestyle was associated with a 20 to 40 percent lower cancer incidence.

“Preventable risk factors for cancer overlap extensively with other major causes of death,” Giovannucci said. “Excess body weight, physical inactivity and poor diet may contribute to one third of cancers in U.S.”

After the lecture Giovannucci was joined by three UT professors: Molly Bray, chair of Nutritional Sciences; Thomas Caven, clinical assistant professor at Dell Medical School and William Tierney, chair of population health at Dell Medical.

One of the major discussion topics was the next steps in reducing the incidence of diseases and the problem of access to healthy lifestyles. Tierney said the healthcare system focuses on those who are already sick. Instead of sick care, he said we also need a system to keep people healthy.

Giovannucci said that a preventative diet incorporates a wide variety of healthy foods.

“There are certain pro cancer foods like red processed meats, sugar sweetened beverages that are associated with higher rate of cancer,” Giovannucci said. “Anti-cancer foods include whole grains, fruits, veggies, coffee. Instead of singling out certain factors, focus on healthful dietary patterns.”

Bray said initiatives such as community gardens can help groups such as children learn to make healthier food choices.

“The Nutrition Department has a project designed to put gardens into primarily minority schools,” Bray said. “They are teaching kids at an early age what healthy eating looks like.”

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Cancer is not a roll of the dice