Cancer Risks Factors

Common  Cancer

About half of all men and one-third of all women in the US will develop cancer during their lifetimes. The risk of developing most types of cancer can be reduced by changes in a person’s lifestyle, for instance, by staying away from tobacco, limiting time in the sun, and being physically active and eating healthy foods. There are also screening tests that can be done for some types of cancers so they can be found as early as possible – while they are small and before they have spread. In general, the earlier a cancer is found and treated, the better the chances are for living for many years.

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A risk factor is anything linked to your chance of getting a disease, such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For instance, exposing skin to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer, but it’s not linked to colon cancer. Some risk factors can actually cause cancer, while others may simply be more common in people who get cancer. For example, old age by itself doesn’t cause cancer, but it is a risk factor.

But risk factors don’t tell us everything. Having one risk factor, or even many, does not mean that someone will get cancer. Some people with one or more risk factors never develop the disease, while others who do develop cancer have no known risk factors. Even when a person who has a risk factor is diagnosed with cancer, there’s no way to prove that the risk factor actually caused the cancer.

There are different kinds of risk factors. Some, like a person’s age or race, can’t be changed. Others are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Still others are related to personal actions, such as smoking. Some factors influence risk more than others, and a person’s risk for cancer can change over time, due to factors such as aging or lifestyle. (See the section called “What causes cancer?” for more on this.)

Some of the major cancer risk factors that can be controlled:

• Tobacco use


• Diet


• Physical activity


• Weight


• Alcohol use


• Sun exposure


• Environmental exposures, such as radon, lead, and asbestos


• Exposure to infections like hepatitis, HPV, and HIV

Contagious

In the past, people often stayed away from someone who had cancer. They were afraid they might “catch” the disease. But cancer isn’t like the flu or a cold. You can’t catch cancer from someone who has it. You won’t get cancer by being around or touching someone with cancer. Don’t be afraid to visit someone with cancer. They need the support of their family and friends.

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Prevents

Tobacco

Many cancers might be prevented if people didn’t use tobacco.

Smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body and accounts for some 30% of all cancer deaths. Cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and oral (smokeless) tobacco products cause cancer and should not be used. People who use tobacco should try to quit. Studies clearly show that ex-smokers have less cancer than people who continue to smoke.

It’s best to never use tobacco at all and to stay away from secondhand smoke.

See the “Stay Away from Tobacco” section of our website for more on this.

Alcohol

Drinking alcohol is linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer. Some people think that certain types of alcohol are safer than others. But ethanol is the type of alcohol found in all alcoholic drinks, whether they are beers, wines, or liquors (distilled spirits). Overall, it’s the amount of alcohol that’s drunk over time, not the type of drink, which seems to be the most important factor in raising cancer risk. If you drink, limit your intake to no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink a day for women. This may help curb your cancer risk. You can find out more in our document called Alcohol Use and Cancer.

Drinking and smoking

The combined use of alcohol and tobacco raises the risk of mouth, throat, voice box, and esophagus cancer far more than the effects of either one alone.

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