A Senior Specialist Oncologist at the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Hannah Naa Gogwe Ayettey, says food has a major role to play in the development of cancer within the human immune system.

According to her, some foods taken into the body put the system at a higher risk of the disease.

Speaking on Joy Prime’s morning show, Prime Morning, on Tuesday, Dr. Hannah explained that the increase in industrialization is the reason for the gradual hike in the risk of cancer.

"Some of the foods we eat and even the pollutants... We’re becoming more industrialised, so the risk of developing cancers that under normal circumstances may not have been there is becoming higher. We’re also preserving our foods with all sorts of things, which we don’t even know as of now what the risk will be, but down the line, it will happen," she explained.

She added that the commonness of cancers, such as stomach cancers, in some parts of the world is due to the kind of foods they eat, thereby increasing their risk of getting such cancers.

The Oncologist also indicated that studies about cancer in Ghana have shown that head and neck cancers are common along the Volta belt, where food is proven to be the major cause.

"But you’re very careful when you start talking about that because next moment, people will become unusually or overly frightened about eating certain foods. That’s not the intention," she noted.

She entreated people to try as much as possible to eat a balanced diet in order to boost their immune systems and be able to fight infections.

Adding her opinion, Dr. Naa Adorkor Aryeetey, who is a Clinical Oncologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, stated that the kinds of foods, cigarettes and the alcohol people take while growing up damage the body cells.

"When this damage occurs within the cell, what happens is that over time, they’re unable to respond to the normal cues. So, instead of stopping growing, the cells continue to grow without stopping," she said.

Cancer can develop in any part of the human body, so it should be a major concern for all.

Recently, the Ghana Medical Association announced that Ghana records 40,000 cancer cases every year.