A NEW report has revealed that nearly half of all cancers diagnosed in the UK are caused by avoidable lifestyle choices.

Cancer Research UK said more than 130,000 cases each year could be attributed to factors like smoking, drinking and eating the wrong things, rather than fate or genetics.

The charity said tobacco was the biggest culprit, followed by a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables for men and being overweight for women – almost a 10th of the risk in breast cancer cases.

Patients and health experts in East Lancashire welcomed the study but said cancer could still affect those who lead ‘healthy lives’.

Ruth Loft, a former breast cancer patient and organiser of the Blackburn and East Lancashire Breast Care Support Group, said: “If we can maintain a healthy lifestyle, if and when cancer does strike, our bodies will have a much better chance of fighting it.

“But it’s nobody’s fault if they get breast cancer. I’ve seen hundreds of ladies go through our group over the years who would say they had a healthy lifestyle.

“A friend of mine when I was at The Christie was a nutritionist. She knew everything about what to do and eat and she died in her 40s.”

Blackburn with Darwen’s health watchdog, Coun Ron O’Keeffe, said it was good advice but that many people lived a lifestyle according to their finances.

He said: “Not everybody can afford to go out and buy fresh fruit and vegetables so they buy ready meals.

"I also think the general public are fed up of being told they can’t do this and they can’t do that. You can’t order people to change.”

Abdul Mulla, chief officer of charity Healthy Living, said beneficial lifestyle choices did not have to be expensive.

Healthy Living has set up low cost community gyms and a food co-op in Highercroft, Blackburn, which sells affordable fresh fruit and vegetables, and is currently developing a mobile service for the rest of the borough.

He said: “Contrary to myths healthy eating doesn’t have to cost more money than ready meals.

“Eating tinned and frozen fruit and vegetables has the same benefits if packed properly and there is also dried fruit and juices.

“Making small changes such as having smaller portions or starting to eat more fruit and vegetables makes a big impact. You don’t have to go from a rich food diet to a ‘rabbit food’ diet.”