Cancer is a terrible disease. It can snatch away loved ones in a matter of months and always causes terrible heartache for those left behind.

But, according to a study just published in the UK by the British Journal of Cancer, it was found that 40% of the 130,000 cancer cases diagnosed each year are preventable through lifestyle choices.

It really does boil down to being as simple as stopping smoking, moderating alcohol intake and eating more fruit and veg.

Unsurprisingly, according to the report, tobacco is the biggest culprit, causing 23% of registered cases in men and 15.6% of women’s.

The next highest on the list of causes is a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in men’s diets and being overweight for women.

In the report, lead author Prof. Max Parkin says: “Many people believe cancer is down to fate or ‘in the genes’ and that it is the luck of the draw whether they get it.

But, he has dashed those theories in saying: “Looking at all the evidence, it’s clear that around 40% of all cancers are caused by things we mostly have the power to change.”

According to the report there are 14 lifestyle and environmental factors, such as where you live and the job you do, which combine to cause cancer. The same UK study says that one in 25 of cancers is linked to a person’s job, such as being exposed to chemicals or asbestos.

It also turned out that in breast cancer, nearly a 10th of the risk comes from being overweight or obese, far outweighing the impact of whether or not the woman breastfeeds or drinks alcohol.

But for oesophageal or gullet cancer, half of the risk comes from eating too little fruit and veg, while only a fifth of the risk is from alcohol, the report shows, pouring even more cold water on the assumptions that many have always made about the disease.

Meanwhile, for stomach cancer, a fifth of the risk comes from having too much salt in the diet, data suggests.

So it seems that we have a much greater say in whether or not we contract cancer in some point of our lives. Of course, 60% of cases remain tied to factors that are beyond our control, but this reading should be enough to shock anyone into a change of lifestyle. But that is the problem, we all start out with the best of intentions, but it soon reverts back to the usual ways.