Risk Factors and Screening Patient Resource Area

In addition to lifestyle and genetic risk factors, environmental risks constitute an important and largely preventable contribution to cancer causation. Up to date information on chemical, infectious, and radiation related risk factors.

Cancer Prevention
Cancer may be prevented by such lifestyle choices as quitting smoking and using protection in the sun. This area focuses on how to minimize the risk of developing cancer.

Cancer Risk
A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a disease. Some risk factors can be changed, and others cannot. Risk factors for cancer can include a person's age, sex, and family medical history. Others are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Still others are related to lifestyle choices such as tobacco and alcohol use, diet, and sun exposure.

Screening/Early Detection
A health exam should include cancer screening and early detection. This may include health counseling, and depending on a person's age and gender, might include exams for cancers of the thyroid, oral cavity, skin, lymph nodes, testes, and ovaries, as well as for some non-malignant diseases.