Women who survive cancer receiving mammography screening have “worse health behaviors”, than those who had never had cancer and receiving mammography screening, according to a study by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The team questioned 2,713 female cancer survivors aged 35+ receiving mammography screening, and compared their responses of 19,947 women with no previous breast cancer presenting for mammography screening.

The researchers compared the two groups on alcohol use, weight status, physical activity, vitamin use, and smoking behaviors and found that:

  • Women who survived cancer were more likely to use more than three vitamins.
  • Those who survived cancer were less likely to take part in “strenuous exercise”, compared with those with no history of cancer. Regardless of cancer history, younger women were less likely to engage in “mild exercise” than older participants.
  • Compared with women with no cancer history, cancer survivors were more likely to rate their overall health as “poor”.
  • Women aged between 30-49, who survived cancer, had greater raters of smoking than those with no cancer history.
  • The team found no different in Body Mass Index between the two groups, although they did find that those who survived cancer reported less weight gain over the past 5 years, than those with no cancer history.
  • Women with no cancer history were more likely to use alcohol monthly or greater than cancer survivors. Younger cancer survivors were the most common alcohol users.

Sarah M. Rausch, Ph.D., study author and clinical psychologist and director of Integrative Medicine at Moffitt, explained:

“These results suggest that there are opportunities for tailored behavioral health risk factor interventions for cancer survivors. The differences in health behaviors between cancer survivors and those with no cancer history afford a ‘teachable moment’ in which a cancer survivor may be motivated to change behaviors to promote a healthier lifestyle and prevent cancer recurrence.”

The researchers found that women who survived cervical cancer reported having several unhealthy lifestyles. This finding is consistent with other surveys analyzing health behaviors of cancer survivors.

Rausch, said:

“As the population of cancer survivors increases, the importance of health status and quality of life in cancer survivors is even more critical. Approximately 10.5 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with cancer. Due to the progress in cancer diagnosis and treatment, there is a growing population of cancer survivors.”

Citing statistics from 2006 in their study, the researchers state that one-third of the half million cancer deaths each year in the U.S., was attributable to obesity, unhealthy diet, and lack of physical activity.

Rausch, explained:

“Studies, including ours, have found that cancer survivors are not as healthy as the general public. As our study demonstrated, unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and alcohol use, and a lack of physical exercise among cancer survivors presenting for screening mammography, may account for their generally less than healthy status when compared to their peers, who also presented for screening mammography, but who had never had a cancer diagnosis.”

According to the team, the “teachable moment” taken from their investigation should be taken advantage of by health care professionals to drive home the importance of leading a healthier lifestyle, in order to prevent cancer recurrence.

Written by Grace Rattue