Social disparities, health risk behaviors, and cancer

Background: Overall cancer incidence rates decreased in the most recent time period in both men and women, largely due to improvements in surgical therapeutic approaches (tertiary prevention) and screening programs (secondary prevention), but differences in cancer incidence and survival according to socioeconomic status are documented worldwide. Health risk behaviors, defined as habits or practices that increase an individual’s likelihood of harmful health outcomes, are thought to mediate such inequalities. Discussion: Obesity has been related with increased cancer incidence and mortality due to imbalance of leptin and adiponectin which are connected to activation of PI3K, MAPK, and STAT3 p…