Healthy lifestyle and the risk of lymphoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Limited evidence exists on the role of modifiable lifestyle factors on the risk of lymphoma. In this work, the associations between adherence to healthy lifestyles and risks of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) were evaluated in a large-scale European prospective cohort. Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), 2,999 incident lymphoma cases (132 HL and 2,746 NHL) were diagnosed among 453,808 participants after 15 years (median) of follow-up. The healthy lifestyle index (HLI) score combined information on smoking, alcohol intake, diet, physical activity and BMI, with large values of HLI expressing adherence to healthy behavior. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate lymphoma hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Sensitivity analyses were conducted by excluding, in turn, each lifestyle factor from the HLI score. The HLI was inversely associated with HL, with HR for a 1-standard deviation (SD) increment in the score equal to 0.78 (95% CI: 0.66, 0.94). Sensitivity analyses showed that the association was mainly driven by smoking and marginally by diet. NHL risk was not associated with the HLI, with HRs for a 1-SD increment equal to 0.99 (0.95, 1.03), with no evidence for heterogeneity in the association across NHL subtypes. In the EPIC study, adherence to healthy lifestyles was not associated with overall lymphoma or NHL risk, while an inverse association was observed for HL, although this was largely attributable to smoking. These findings suggest a limited role of lifestyle factors in the etiology of lymphoma subtypes.

Healthy lifestyle and the risk of pancreatic cancer in the EPIC study.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly fatal cancer with currently limited opportunities for early detection and effective treatment. Modifiable factors may offer pathways for primary prevention. In this study, the association between the Healthy Lifestyle Index (HLI) and PC risk was examined. Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, 1113 incident PC (57% women) were diagnosed from 400,577 participants followed-up for 15 years (median). HLI scores combined smoking, alcohol intake, dietary exposure, physical activity and, in turn, overall and central adiposity using BMI (HLIBMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR, HLIWHR), respectively. High values of HLI indicate adherence to healthy behaviors. Cox proportional hazard models with age as primary time variable were used to estimate PC hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Sensitivity analyses were performed by excluding, in turn, each factor from the HLI score. Population attributable fractions (PAF) were estimated assuming participants' shift to healthier lifestyles. The HRs for a one-standard deviation increment of HLIBMI and HLIWHR were 0.84 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.89; ptrend = 4.3e-09) and 0.77 (0.72, 0.82; ptrend = 1.7e-15), respectively. Exclusions of smoking from HLIWHR resulted in HRs of 0.88 (0.82, 0.94; ptrend = 4.9e-04). The overall PAF estimate was 19% (95% CI: 11%, 26%), and 14% (6%, 21%) when smoking was removed from the score. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle was inversely associated with PC risk, beyond the beneficial role of smoking avoidance. Public health measures targeting compliance with healthy lifestyles may have an impact on PC incidence.