AFP

About half of all cancer cases worldwide are caused by certain risk factors, most notably smoking and alcohol, according to a huge study published on Friday that stressed the importance of preventive measures without considering them as a solution that prevents the disease completely. According to the study published in "The Lancet" and conducted within the framework of the "Global Borden of Diseases" report, "According to our analysis, 44.4 percent of cancer deaths worldwide (...) are attributable to a risk factor that was measure it." Thousands of researchers in most countries of the world participate in the vast research program "Global Borden of Daisies", which is funded by the Bill Gates Foundation and is unparalleled in scale. The study made it possible to learn more details about the risk factors according to the regions of the world, although its results generally confirmed what was originally known, which is that smoking is the main factor in causing cancer (by 33.9 percent), followed by alcohol (7.4 percent). . The study therefore called for giving a great deal of importance to prevention in the field of public health, as a number of these risk factors are related to behaviors that can be changed or avoided. However, half of all cancer cases are not attributable to a specific risk factor, indicating that prevention is inadequate. The authors of the study considered that prevention should go hand in hand with two other pillars, namely early enough diagnosis, and effective treatments. And “The Lancet” published in the same issue an independent comment by two epidemiologists in which they supported these conclusions, considering in turn that the study confirms the importance of prevention