Researchers say people treated for colon cancer can greatly reduce their risk of death and of the cancer progressing, by living more healthfully. The study was released just before the yearly gathering of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world’s largest organization of clinical cancer professionals. Harvard University in Massachusetts questioned 1,000 advanced colon cancer patients across the United States. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) examined their answers. The researchers began examining the volunteers at 13 medical centers between 1999 and 2001. The patients were followed for seven years. Twice during the study, they were asked if their lifestyle followed prevention suggestions from the American Cancer Society. These guidelines include keeping a healthy weight, eating many fruits and vegetables, limiting intake of red and processed meats and exercising on a regular basis. Only nine percent of the patients in the study followed the guidelines. Those patients had a 42 percent lower risk of death compared to the patients who did not follow the guidelines.
