The researchers saw a 26 percent lower recurrence of bladder cancer in the group that scored highest on healthy living compared to the least healthy living group. A healthier lifestyle was also associated with a better quality of life.
Questionnaires
In the study, 885 patients from 22 Dutch hospitals were followed for 3.5 years with questionnaires. They had bladder cancer that had not yet grown into the bladder muscle, which is about three quarters of all bladder cancers. “These people completed questionnaires about their lifestyle before the diagnosis and three months afterwards,” says researcher Moniek van Zutphen. The researchers converted the results of the questionnaires into a score for healthy living. They used the advice for a healthy lifestyle of the World Cancer Research Fund (WKOF). These advices are about weight, exercise and nutrition.
Lifestyle advice
According to the researchers, previous research has already shown that healthy living reduces the risk of cancer. This is one of the first studies to look specifically at disease recurrence. Nutrition and cancer epidemiologist Alina Vrieling indicates that bladder cancer recurs in about half of all patients after the first operation. “That is why an intensive process of checks and new treatments follows after the operation.”
Yet patients receive hardly any lifestyle advice when diagnosed with bladder cancer, while many people ask their doctor what they can do themselves after the diagnosis. “We need more studies that confirm our findings before we can provide sufficiently substantiated advice. But a little healthier life is always a good idea.”
