Environmental and Lifestyle Epidemiology Across the Cancer Continuum: From Risk and Incidence to Survivorship and Rehabilitation

Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, and a considerable proportion of its burden is attributable to modifiable environmental and lifestyle factors. Exposures such as ambient air pollution, extreme temperatures, and environmental chemicals may act jointly with physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, and diet to shape cancer risk, yet their interplay and the biological pathways involved remain insufficiently understood. After diagnosis, these same factors can influence treatment tolerance, frailty, functional recovery, quality of life, and survival. This Special Issue invites high-quality research spanning the cancer continuum, from primary prevention and incidence to survivorship and rehabilitation. We welcome original research, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses drawing on prospective cohorts, biobanks, nationally representative surveys, Mendelian randomization, wearable-device data, and intervention trials. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: environmental exposures and cancer incidence; lifestyle behaviors in cancer prevention and survivorship; joint and effect-modifying associations between environmental and lifestyle factors; biological aging, inflammation, and other mechanistic pathways; and frailty, functional decline, and lifestyle-based rehabilitation after diagnosis. Studies of shared pathways linking cancer with other age-related chronic conditions are also welcome. Together, this collection aims to inform precision prevention and evidence-based survivorship care.

