Female cancer survivors receiving screening mammography have "worse health behaviors" than women receiving mammography screening who never had cancer, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL, and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, studied 18,510 women ages 35 and older presenting for screening mammography; 2,713 (14.7%) were cancer survivors. Participants were surveyed about their smoking behaviors, alcohol use, physical activity, weight status, and vitamin use (Am J Clin Oncol, February 2012, Vol. 35:1, pp. 22-31).
Co-author Sarah Rausch, PhD, and colleagues found that cancer survivors were less likely than those with no cancer history to do the following:
- Report their overall health as "excellent" (13.6% versus 21.5%)
- Engage in moderate or strenuous exercise (56.5% versus 63.3%)
- Use complementary and alternative medicine (57.4% versus 60.2%)
Cancer survivors were more likely to be current smokers (6.3%, compared with 5.5% of those with no cancer history), rate their overall health as "poor" (15.8% versus 9.1%), and report more weight gain over time, Rausch's team found.
Among cancer survivors, differences also emerged by the type of primary cancer. For example, cervical cancer survivors were most likely to report being current smokers (15.7%) and regular alcohol users (71.7%), compared with other survivors. Ovarian and uterine cancer survivors most frequently reported being obese (41% and 34.4%, respectively). Cervical cancer survivors reported the largest weight gain (4.9 lb at five years and 13.4 lb at 10 years).
"These results suggest that there are opportunities for tailored behavioral health risk factor interventions for cancer survivors," Rausch said in a statement about the study.
"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," she said.
