A doctor holding fruit and vegetables

Despite the progress made in the investigation and understanding of the causes of cancer, the number of cases in the world has increased consistently in the past decades, with more than 14 million new cases per year worldwide. These numbers are expected to rise in the future making cancer prevention a real challenge for health services and society.

Cancer is a complex disease that is influenced by several environmental, lifestyle and genetic factors.  In the School of Public Health, we tackle this problem by investigating the link between cancer and lifestyle, nutrition, anthropometry, metabolism and environmental factors in very large population studies.

The results obtained from these epidemiological studies can make a real difference in the way we approach cancer prevention. It is therefore very important that the public and the policy-makers are up-to-date with the latest scientific evidence. Researchers at Imperial College work collaboratively with the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) International on the Global Cancer Update Programme, which aims to systematically review the scientific evidence on diet, nutrition, physical activity, and cancer risk and survival. The CUP Global provides the basis for the cancer prevention recommendations issued by international bodies and charities such as WHO and WCRF International, which guide the public towards behavioural changes to reduce the risk of developing cancer.