The latest report published by the NCRI (see summary and pdf) on modifiable risk factors and cancer in Ireland indicates that 29% of cancer incidence (6,200 cases) in Ireland was potentially preventable in 2016. This relates to 3/10 of all invasive cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) cases being attributable specifically to the sum of the 11 modifiable risk factors examined.
Smoking, overweight and obesity, and infections were the top three modifiable risk factors for cancer in Ireland, together accounting for about 21% of all cancers. These risk factors need to continue to be targeted by public health representatives and policymakers.
At about 2,800 diagnoses in 2016, 13% or about one eighth of cancer cases were attributable to smoking, including passive smoking. By 2035, assuming these risk estimates continue to apply, it is estimated that about 4,700 cases of invasive cancer per year will be attributable to smoking.
Lung cancer had the highest number of cases attributable to modifiable lifestyle risk factors in both males and females, followed by colon cancer in males and breast cancer in females.