Cancer Prevention Tipsheet: Reducing cancer mortality starts with exercise, nutrition and early detection

Newswise — SEATTLE — Jan. 26, 2024 — February is Cancer Prevention Month. While cancer can feel inevitable, random or out of our control, there are things we can do to reduce cancer risk, from exercise and nutrition to annual screenings.

Below are Fred Hutch researchers, nutritionists, exercise specialists and clinicians who can share cancer prevention tips and ways to improve your overall health.

Nutrition

Fred Hutch nutrition experts can discuss the significance of maintaining a wholesome diet as a proactive measure against cancer, offering valuable insights for overall public health and preventive strategies.

• Marian Neuhouser, PhD, RD leads Fred Hutch's Cancer Prevention Program where her research focuses on the role of nutrition and obesity in the prevention and survivorship of breast and prostate cancers.
  • Area of Expertise: Nutrition, Obesity, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer
• Johanna Lampe, PhD, RD is an experimental nutritionist studying how nutrition affects cancer risk as well as the relationship between diet and the microbiome.
  •  Area of Expertise: Nutrition, Microbiome
• Kerry McMillen, MS, RD, CSO, FAND leads Fred Hutch's Medical Nutrition Therapy services, where she works with patients to support healthy diet through treatment.
  • Area of Expertise: Nutrition, Microbiome
• Holly Harris, MPH, ScD studies the impact of lifestyle, nutrition and genetic factors on women's health. She also looks at the connection between hormonal diseases and ovarian and breast cancer.
  • Area of Expertise: Women’s Health, Ovarian Cancer, Breast Cancer, Endometriosis, Screening, Nutrition
• Garnet Anderson, PhD leads the Women's Health Initiative and Fred Hutch’s Public Health Sciences Division. She has conducted numerous large-scale and multi-year public health studies related to women's health, from ovarian cancer screening to menopause.
  • Area of Expertise: Women's Health, Screening, Ovarian Cancer, Supplements, Menopause

Exercise

Researchers and clinicians agree that physical activity is the best way to benefit your health any time of year. Fred Hutch experts are studying how exactly exercise prevents cancer, while clinicians are helping patients use exercise for both long- and short-term health.

• Hanna Hunter, MD leads Fred Hutch's Cancer Rehabilitation program, where she focuses on helping patients use physical activity before, during and after cancer treatment. Hunter teaches patients how exercise doesn't have to be at the gym but can take place in their everyday life.
  • Area of Expertise: Exercise, Physical Therapy
• Matthew Van Doren leads Fred Hutch's Exercise Research Center. His background as an exercise physiologist helps him support researchers who are looking to study the impact of exercise, as well as support participants in learning the ins and outs of the gym.
  • Area of Expertise: Exercise
• Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD studies ways to prevent new or recurrent cancer through exercise and the effect of supplements on disease prevention. She's served on the Physical Activity Guidelines and Advisory Committee of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, which recommends the amount and type of physical activity Americans need to reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases.
  • Area of Expertise: Exercise, Supplements

Early Detection

Catching cancer early gives patients the best chance at successful treatment, and life beyond cancer. Fred Hutch researchers and clinicians are finding ways to make early detection better, from making screening more accessible and widespread to identifying genetic markers associated with different types of cancer.  

• Vida Henderson, PhD, PharmD focuses on cancer prevention and early detection in underserved populations and communities disproportionately affected by certain cancers. One of her current studies is aimed at increasing genetic counseling and screening among African American women with a hereditary risk for breast cancer.
  • Area of Expertise: Screening, Equity, Breast Cancer
• Matthew Triplette. MD, MPH leads the Lung Cancer Early Detection and Prevention Clinic where he studies how to increase lung cancer screening to save lives.
  • Area of Expertise: Lung Cancer, Screening
• Ruth Etzioni, PhD is an expert in cancer screening, particularly in prostate and breast cancer. She evaluates diagnostic tests, looking at the impacts of screening on incidence and mortality rates of these cancers, as well as the costs and benefits of preventive screening.
  • Area of Expertise: Screening, Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer
• Rachel Issaka's, MD, MAS research is focused on decreasing the mortality associated with colorectal cancer by identifying, measuring and improving approaches to increasing access to screening.
  • Area of Expertise: Colorectal Cancer, Screening
• Burcu Darst's, PhD, research identifies and analyzes genetic risk factors for prostate cancer. She focuses on differences in risk factors among populations and better predicting who might be at increased risk of prostate cancer.
  • Area of Expertise: Genetic Risk, Prostate Cancer
• Ulrike Peters, PhD, MPH focuses on the genetic epidemiology of colorectal cancer as well as the impact of race and ethnicity on underlying genetic risk factors. As the leader of GECCO, the world's largest molecular and genetic consortium for colorectal cancer, she's working to identify new genetic risk factors.
  • Area of Expertise: Genetic Risk, Colorectal Cancer, Screening

Resources

• Decade-by-decade guide to cancer prevention
  • A new guide to ways to lower your cancer risk at every age, from 10 to 80 and beyond. This guide walks you through which screenings are recommended, as well as other actions to consider. 
• Cook for Your Life
  • Led by Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, Cook for Your Life offers a public collection of recipes, instructional cooking videos and science-based nutrition and health information in both English and Spanish – all adhering to standards established by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
• QuitBot
  • Jonathan Bricker, PhD and Fred Hutch’s Health and Behavioral Innovations in Technology (HABIT) research group developed an AI-powered chatbot app called QuitBot to help more people successfully quit smoking cigarettes. It’s available for free on Apple and Android devices.

# # #

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center unites individualized care and advanced research to provide the latest cancer treatment options while accelerating discoveries that prevent, treat and cure cancer and infectious diseases worldwide.

Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy, HIV/AIDS prevention and COVID-19 vaccines. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.