Healthy lifestyle and cancer risk: a pan-cancer analysis in the UK Biobank prospective cohort.

BACKGROUND: Research on healthy lifestyles across various cancers is limited. We conducted a pan-cancer analysis to evaluate the associations of healthy lifestyle with cancer risk. METHODS: Data from 287,745 UK Biobank participants were analysed. A healthy lifestyle score (HLS) was calculated based on smoking, alcohol, diet, physical activity and BMI. Cox models were used to estimate 27 cancer risks, and population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated based on incomplete adherence to a healthy lifestyle. RESULTS: During a median 11.5-year follow-up, 12,947 participants developed cancer. Adhering to 4-5 vs 0-1 healthy lifestyle behaviours was associated with decreased risks of 13 of the 27 cancer types: oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal, oesophageal, stomach, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, lung, soft tissue sarcoma, kidney, bladder and postmenopausal breast cancer (HRs from 0.12 to 0.79). Significant PAFs were observed for 14 cancer types in relation to lower HLS. Smoking and overweight were associated with the largest number of cancer types. CONCLUSIONS: These findings extend evidence on associations between a healthy lifestyle and lower risks of both common and less-common cancers. Smoking and overweight were associated with more cancer types than the other components, suggesting that smoking cessation and weight control may be cancer prevention strategies to be prioritised.