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Population Attributable Risk for Colorectal and Breast Cancer in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the United

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Population Attributable Risk for Colorectal and Breast Cancer in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the United AMRC Open Research AMRC Open Research 2021, 3:11 Last updated: 24 SEP 2021 RESEARCH ARTICLE Population attributable risk for colorectal and breast cancer in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 1 not approved] Shatabdi Goon 1,2*, Hanseul Kim3*, Edward L. Giovannucci3,4 1Department of Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA 2Florida Department of Health, Pasco, FL, 34652, USA 3Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA 4Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA * Equal contributors v1 First published: 23 Mar 2021, 3:11 Open Peer Review https://doi.org/10.12688/amrcopenres.12980.1 Latest published: 23 Mar 2021, 3:11 https://doi.org/10.12688/amrcopenres.12980.1 Reviewer Status Invited Reviewers Abstract Background: The population attributable risk (PAR) is a statistic 1 2 commonly used for quantifying preventability of cancer. We report here PAR estimates for the United Kingdom (UK) along with its version 1 constituent countries for up-to-date risk factor-attributable colorectal 23 Mar 2021 report report cancer (CRC) and breast cancer (BC), focusing on diet and nutrition related factors and tobacco (CRC) using representative national 1. Yibing Ruan , Alberta Health Services, surveys. Methods: The PAR was calculated using established, modifiable risk Calgary, Canada factors by the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute of Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR): physical activity, body mass index 2. María Teresa Álvarez Bañuelos , (BMI), alcoholic drinks, red meat, processed meat, dietary fiber, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico dietary calcium, as well as cigarette smoking for CRC, and physical activity, BMI, alcoholic drinks, and fruits and vegetable consumption Any reports and responses or comments on the for BC. National prevalence estimates and relative risks (RRs) for CRC article can be found at the end of the article. and BC were obtained from meta-analyses or large pooled analyses. Results: Based on eight dietary and lifestyle risk factors, the estimates for attributable cases of CRC for males and females, respectively, were as follows: England: 67% and 60%; Scotland: 68% and 59%, Wales: 66% and 61%; Northern Ireland: 67% and 61%; and UK: 67% and 60%. Excluding smoking, the PAR for the UK was 61% for men and 52% for women. Based on four dietary and lifestyle risk factors, the estimates for BC were as follows: England: 26%, Scotland: 27%; Wales: 25%; Northern Ireland: 26%; and UK: 27%. Conclusion: Up to 67% for CRC and 27% of BC were attributable to modifiable dietary and lifestyle factors in the UK. Moderate differences in PAR are observed between countries due to different prevalence of exposure to risk factors. Page 1 of 16 AMRC Open Research AMRC Open Research 2021, 3:11 Last updated: 24 SEP 2021 Keywords Population Attributable Risk, Colorectal Cancer, Breast Cancer, Risk Factors, Exposure Prevalence, Relative Risk, Cancer Prevention, United Kingdom. Corresponding authors: Shatabdi Goon ([email protected]), Edward L. Giovannucci ([email protected]) Author roles: Goon S: Formal Analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing; Kim H: Methodology, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing; Giovannucci EL: Conceptualization, Funding Acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Grant information: This work was supported by the World Cancer Research Fund International (Commissioned to E.L. Giovannucci). Funding for grant 2018/1818 was obtained from World Cancer Research Fund UK (WCRF), as part of the World Cancer Research Fund International grant programme. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Copyright: © 2021 Goon S et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. How to cite this article: Goon S, Kim H and Giovannucci EL. Population attributable risk for colorectal and breast cancer in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 1 not approved] AMRC Open Research 2021, 3:11 https://doi.org/10.12688/amrcopenres.12980.1 First published: 23 Mar 2021, 3:11 https://doi.org/10.12688/amrcopenres.12980.1 Page 2 of 16 AMRC Open Research 2021, 3:11 Last updated: 24 SEP 2021 Introduction classification for CRC (body mass index (BMI), physical The population attributable risk (PAR) is a metric commonly activity, alcoholic drinks, and intakes of dietary fiber, red meat, utilized to quantify the preventability of a specific disease. processed meat, and dietary calcium), we further included Various approaches to calculate the PAR for cancer have been cigarette smoking, considered a causal factor for CRC based used by researchers. Most typically, the PAR is based on iden- on the United States Surgeon General Report11. We included tifying relative risks (RRs) from the scientific literature and four factors for BC (body fatness/BMI, physical activity, alco- prevalence from suitable population sources for specific factors holic drinks, and intakes of fruits and vegetables). We included of interest. The process requires several steps. It is critical “fruits and vegetables” because, although these were con- to first identify the established risk factors that are in princi- sidered a limited/suggestive factor for BC, the WCRF/AICR ple modifiable. Then it is important to derive a RR estimate expert panel concluded that that evidence for carotenoid rich from the literature for each risk factor. The RR estimates can foods was stronger for estrogen receptor negative BC than for either be from the population of interest, or common RRs, such estrogen receptor positive or total BC. Yet, because estrogen as from meta-analyses or representative studies, that are gen- receptor negative BC is an important component of total BC, eralizable. Next, it is important to identify estimates of the preventing it would contribute to reducing the burden of BC. prevalence of exposures in the population of interest. With this information, standard formulae to calculate PARs can be used. Prevalence data The prevalence of exposures to risk factors in the populations Estimates of the PAR for various cancers have often varied was obtained from the nationally representative population widely. Four decades ago, Doll and Peto1 suggested that 90% surveys: the Health Survey of England, Scotland, Wales, and of colorectal cancers (CRCs) and 50% of breast cancers (BCs) Northern Ireland12. Exposure distribution data on dietary cal- may be related to diet. Similarly, Parkin et al.2 attributed about cium and meat consumption were obtained from EPIC-Oxford 43% of CRC in the UK to five largely modifiable factors cohort13 and UK biobank cohort14, respectively. The methods including diet and nutrition, and 42% of BC to modifiable detailing the derivation of prevalence for most exposures have risk factors including body fatness and physical activity. PAR been described in Brown et al.12. estimates for cancer from studies across the world have varied substantially; for example, some estimates were between 16% 3–5 1–3,6 Relative risks and 90% for CRC , and 6.5% and 50% for BC . Blot and We identified RRs by conducting systematic searches in 7 Tarone argued that an estimate of 90% appeared to be too PubMed. Meta-analyses of cohort studies were the preferred high for CRC. Such variability in the calculated PAR esti- source of RRs, then followed by pooled analyses of cohort stud- 8 mates may extend from a number of factors including: 1) the ies and individual cohort studies. In some meta- and pooled risk factors that were considered; 2) the specific RRs that were analyses multiple estimates were reported, and sometimes more utilized; 3) the sources of population prevalence of the risk than one meta- or pooled analysis was available; in these cir- factors; and 4) the specific calculation methods used to cal- cumstances, we selected the RRs based on characteristics culate the PAR. Other contributors to variability include most relevant to our study. In addition, selected RRs had to variation in the time period and geography, differences in provide cut-points for the categories comparable to the expo- socio-demographic profile of cancer cases, and differences due sure data available for UK and its constituents countries. The to screening availability. search string for the risk factors were: Tobacco (tobacco OR cigarette OR smoking OR environmental tobacco smoke OR We report here PAR estimates for the United Kingdom (UK) second-hand smoke), Overweight and obesity (weight OR along with its constituent countries on the number of risk BMI OR body mass index OR obesity OR obese OR over- factor-attributable CRC and BC, the two most common prevent- weight OR adiposity OR body size), Alcohol (alcohol OR alco- able cancers, excluding lung cancer, which is highly related holic OR ethanol), Fiber (fibre OR fiber), Processed and red to tobacco use. We focused on
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