World Cancer Day February 4th 2025

The theme of this year’s World Cancer Day on the 4^th February is ‘United by Unique’.
Every experience with cancer is unique and it will take all of us, united, to create a world where we look beyond the disease and see the person before the patient. The aim of this year’s World Cancer Day is to rewrite the future of cancer care so that the needs of people and communities come first (1).

A people-centred approach recognises that behind every diagnosis of cancer lies a unique human being. It prioritises their needs, hears their concerns with compassion and empathy, helps them retain autonomy, and empowers them to actively participate in the decision-making process rather than simply being passive receivers of care. 

The World Health Organisation states that developing more integrated people centred care systems has the potential to generate significant benefits to the health and healthcare of all people.

Here we’ll look at some of the ways we can care for ourselves and each other to prevent cancer or to support those with cancer.

Diet and Cancer

It is estimated that dietary habits account for 30% of all cancers. Nutrition can affect and potentially enhance the immune response against cancer. One mechanism for this is that diet can affect the composition of the gut microbiota which in turn may have a powerful effect on the immune system.

A meta-analysis into the effects of dietary patterns and diet interventions on cancer prognosis found that a high quality diet rich in whole foods, fruit and vegetables is associated with improved survival from several types of cancer (2).

The EPIC study into cancer and nutrition found that higher consumption of fruit, vegetables and fish had protective effects against some of the most common cancers (colorectal, breast, prostate and lung cancer) while lower consumption of red and processed meat and alcohol were protective (3).

Specific dietary patterns that may be supportive of the immune system include the Mediterranean diet, vegetarian or vegan diets, the Japanese diet and ketogenic diets. These have all been shown to lower the risk of developing several cancers and to reduce the mortality associated with them (4).

Ketogenic Diet

Several experimental and clinical studies support the use of the ketogenic diet as adjuvant therapy to treat some cancers. The ketogenic diet is a high fat, very-low-carbohydrate diet. Some research shows it has anticancer effects and could augment conventional anticancer therapies. The ketogenic diet may target cancer cells by interfering with their metabolism without harming normal cells (5). Some tumours are glucose-dependent, and patients with these tumours could benefit from a ketogenic diet (6).

There is some variation in the ketogenic diets used in the studies to date so more research is needed to optimise the ketogenic diet for anticancer and nutritional effects (7).

Exercise 

Exercise has many beneficial effects in cancer prevention and treatment. In addition to protecting against cancer, exercise can enhance the efficacy of certain cancer treatments such as immunotherapy and radiotherapy. It may also reduce the symptoms and side effects of cancer and its treatment, such as fatigue, cachexia, cognitive impairment, and depression. Cancer rehabilitation guidelines advise cancer survivors to take exercise (8).

To summarise adopting the following dietary and lifestyle habits could reduce cancer risk (9):

• maintaining a healthy weight
• being physically active
• consuming a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and legumes
• limiting processed and fast food
• limiting consumption of red meat and avoiding processed meats
• drinking mostly water and limiting the consumption of sugar sweetened drinks
• limiting or avoiding alcohol.

 Supplements

The following supplements may all support the immune system.

Curcumin – Curcumin has several anti-cancer and anti-tumour properties as well as having antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antiviral properties (10,11,12).

Omega 3 fats - Low omega 3 fat consumption is associated with an increased incidence of cancer. Omega 3 oils reduce symptoms of cancer including cachexia, inflammation, neuropathy, post operative complications and quality of life (13).

Vitamin D - Many patients with cancer have insufficient vitamin D levels, and low vitamin D levels are associated with increased all-cause mortality and especially mortality due to cancer (14).

Giving Vitamin D to patients with palliative cancer could improve their well-being, decrease pain and reduce susceptibility to infections (15).

Vitamin D supplementation has no known adverse side effects.

Zinc - Zinc deficiency in cancer patients of all types correlates with disease severity and negatively correlates with survival rates. Zinc shows toxicity toward cancer cells without having negative effects on healthy cells. Zinc may be added to cancer treatment regimens to alleviate zinc deficiency and support the immune system (16).

Always consult with your medical specialist before embarking on any dietary, lifestyle or supplement programmes.