TY - JOUR
T1 - Cancer and Ongoing Climate Change
T2 - Who Are the Most Affected?
AU - Yu, Pei
AU - Xu, Rongbin
AU - Yang, Zhengyu
AU - Ye, Tingting
AU - Liu, Yanming
AU - Li, Shanshan
AU - Abramson, Michael J.
AU - Kimlin, Michael
AU - Guo, Yuming
N1 - Funding Information:
P.Y., R.X., T.Y. were supported by China Scholarship Council funds (number 201906210065 for P.Y., 201806010405 for R.X., and 201906320051 for T.Y.); S.L. was supported by an Emerging Leader Fellowship (GNT2009866) of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council; and Y.G. was supported by a Career Development Fellowship (GNT1163693) and Leader Fellowship (GNT2008813) of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.
Publisher Copyright:
©
PY - 2023/1/18
Y1 - 2023/1/18
N2 - Cancer has become the leading cause of premature death in many counties in recent decades. Previous studies showed plenty of evidence that control of modifiable risk factors would reduce the cancer burden. Since modifiable risk factors could be eliminated by changing the lifestyles of individuals, a greater uptake of modifiable risk factors is critical to reducing cancer burden and inequality in cancer survival. However, climate change will widen cancer inequities through its complex connections with modifiable risk factors. In this perspective, complex connections between climate change and cancer risks via modifiable risk factors, including abnormal temperature, UV, air pollution, natural disasters, food (diet), water, infections, and inefficient physical activities, have been summarized. The associations between climate change and modifiable risk factors have no doubt expanded the inequities. People who face overlapping modifiable risk factors, but who are unable to change or adapt, are at the highest risk in the climate change-cancer linkage. Though individual actions to avoid exposure to modifiable risk factors have been recommended, limited benefits would be achieved unless the nations strive to ensure the basic needs of the people. No choice makes avoiding exposure to risk factors an empty phrase. Thus, government actions should be taken to reduce the expanded inequities in cancer risks.
AB - Cancer has become the leading cause of premature death in many counties in recent decades. Previous studies showed plenty of evidence that control of modifiable risk factors would reduce the cancer burden. Since modifiable risk factors could be eliminated by changing the lifestyles of individuals, a greater uptake of modifiable risk factors is critical to reducing cancer burden and inequality in cancer survival. However, climate change will widen cancer inequities through its complex connections with modifiable risk factors. In this perspective, complex connections between climate change and cancer risks via modifiable risk factors, including abnormal temperature, UV, air pollution, natural disasters, food (diet), water, infections, and inefficient physical activities, have been summarized. The associations between climate change and modifiable risk factors have no doubt expanded the inequities. People who face overlapping modifiable risk factors, but who are unable to change or adapt, are at the highest risk in the climate change-cancer linkage. Though individual actions to avoid exposure to modifiable risk factors have been recommended, limited benefits would be achieved unless the nations strive to ensure the basic needs of the people. No choice makes avoiding exposure to risk factors an empty phrase. Thus, government actions should be taken to reduce the expanded inequities in cancer risks.
KW - air pollution
KW - cancer
KW - climate change
KW - inequity
KW - modifiable factor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137869990&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsenvironau.2c00012
DO - 10.1021/acsenvironau.2c00012
M3 - Article
C2 - 36691655
AN - SCOPUS:85137869990
SN - 2694-2518
VL - 3
SP - 5
EP - 11
JO - ACS Environmental Au
JF - ACS Environmental Au
IS - 1
ER -