Infections can cause cancer, warns campaign

On World Cancer Day on February 4 2010, the International Union against Cancer (UICC) launched a campaign that is innovative and not a little provocative. Based in Geneva, the leading international NGO dedicated to the global prevention and control of cancer has developed an awareness strategy that can be used by its 300 member organizations in 100 countries all over the world.

“Cancer can be prevented too” is the theme of this year’s World Cancer Campaign.

“Too many people still believe that cancer is a disease you just catch if you’re unlucky, so we needed to find a way to attack this misconception,” says Bob Heron, the artistic director of Young & Rubicam Brands that is in charge of the theme and visuals for the campaign.

“Cancer is not a lottery. You can skew the odds by making changes,” he adds. Just as we protect ourselves from danger by wearing helmets or avoiding slippery floors, so should we learn to protect ourselves from cancer-causing agents, he indicates. The campaign posters convey this idea.

Using digital media, Heron has also put in place a viral mechanism to get that information out to the world. Web banners and  electronic postcards will multiply rapidly as they spread through the system.

We all know that getting plenty of exercise, keeping our weight down, limiting alcohol intake, avoiding smoking and exposure to sun are important to keep health odds on our side.

What most of us don’t realize is that the prevention of infections, either through safe behavior or vaccination programmes, can also help keep cancer at bay.

"Of the 12 million people who are diagnosed with cancer each year around 20 percent of cases can be attributed to viral and bacterial infections that either directly cause or increase the risk of cancer," says Professor David Hill, UICC president.

Liver, cervical, stomach, bladder cancer and cancer of the bile ducts, as well as Kaposi’s sarcoma, AIDS-related lymphomas and adult T-cell leukemia are now known to be either caused or accelerated by infections.

“The discovery of infectious agents causing human cancers has resulted in novel approaches for cancer prevention, early diagnosis and cancer therapy,” indicates virologist Harald zur Hausen, 2008 Nobel Laureate who has taken a lead role in the campaign. Watch the highly informative video of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

“Understanding the biological pathways of specific infectious agents has allowed for higher success in the prevention, detection and treatment of these infections,” he adds.

Harald zur Hausen discovered the link between the human papilloma virus and cervical cancer, which in turn led to the development of the HPV vaccine.

National vaccination campaigns, including in Switzerland, now distribute the HPV vaccine at no cost to young girls.  “The silent killer”, the second biggest cause of female cancer mortality worldwide nevertheless takes half a million lives each year, 80 per cent of them in developing countries where prevention campaigns are still nascent.

Steven Wiersma, medical officer for viral hepatitis prevention and control at WHO (the World Health Organization) tells Swisster that Hepatitis B and C, that account for 78 per cent of deaths from liver cancer, are typically the kind of infections “that are pretty easy to prevent”.

“What is amazing about the vaccination against Hepatitis B is that it is 95 per cent effective and actually offers retroactive protection,” Wiersma says. He considers that travelers, especially to the far east, must make sure that they are vaccinated.

Around 50 per cent of deaths from Hepatitis B take place in China, although a vigorous vaccination campaign is reversing the trend.

On the other hand because there is of yet no vaccine against Hepatitis C, also a blood-borne disease, prevention will depend on avoiding blood contact, including via contaminated instruments and hypodermic needles.

A correlation between micro toxins (aflatoxins) in foodstuffs that have been stored in poor conditions has also been established with infections that can lead to liver cancer, says Wiersma.

“Because these factors are poverty related, we tend to be complacent about this major health threat, but the fact is that hepatitis is also very prevalent in the highly mobile international community of expats,” Wiersma warns.

The UICC report that serves as the scientific backbone of the campaign explains the causal role of the infectious agents that contribute to cancer, including all others listed above.

But as zur Hausen affirms that “research on infectious causes of human cancer has a great potential for future surprises".

How then do marketing wizards help NGOs get the message across?

“It’s difficult giving health advice,” admits Heron. “If the message is too soft, it won’t break through the noise that is already out there” he says.

“But we need to shake the tree and challenge people in a way that will save lives”, which is why he and his team have taken a leap in faith: they want people to tell others what to do.

By clicking on electronic postcards, each one of us can send a message that says: because I love you I can tell you (because I don’t want you to die):

• You stink (so you’ll give up smoking).
• You have terrible taste (so that you’ll stop eating unhealthily).
• Don’t miss the point (so that you get that vaccination).
• There are limits to drinking.
• I hate your tan.
• I want to see less of you (for someone who has a weight problem).

“It would be incredibly arrogant to think that our campaign could make a big change, but we do want to nudge the dial,” Heron explains.

The “actionable” material used by the UICC is available in English, French and Spanish.

“There are great opportunities for individuals to prevent cancer occurring in the first place,” stresses Hill, adding that “prevention is better than cure.”