Anees B. Chagpar Explains the Impact of Lifestyle Changes on Reducing Breast Cancer Risk

Anees B. Chagpar, director of the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, sums up the various studies that have looked at lifestyle changes and cancer risk.

"When we look at the impact of diet and exercise and obesity, different studies have different numbers in terms of the impact that can have on reducing risk, but we estimate that it's at least 10 percent," she says.

"If you think about that... breast cancer is the leading malignancy in women in this country and if we can reduce that by 10 percent by simply following fairly easy guidelines in terms of eating healthy, exercising and reducing our alcohol intake, we can have a significant impact in terms of population health."