I have received quite a few requests to write about cancer prevention. Although there is no 100% sure fire way to prevent cancer, there are things we can do to help lower our risk. Before we get to those things, it helps to go over what cancer is.
Cancer is not “one disease” which is very important to remember. If it was, I suspect it would be easier to cure. Cancer is rather a group of diseases defined by uncontrolled cell growth. Cancer can arise because of choices we make in life, through the environment or because of the genes that we possess. Due to the above, changes occur in our cells through carcinogenesis that alter or transform our healthy cells into cancerous cells.
There is little we can do to change inherited genes that may increase our risk of cancer. However, chemo preventive treatments can help lower risk for people found to carry certain cancer-related genes. For example, hormonal blocking agents such as tamoxifen can be utilized for someone with BRCA gene mutations. We can also get recommended screening tests at the appropriate ages to help detect cancer before it becomes incurable. Current evidence supports screening for five cancers: breast, cervical, colon, rectal, and lung. The recommended ages and details of each screening test are topics for another blog, but you can ask your physician, PA, or NP for more information.
Now onto the things we all can do to lower our risk of getting cancer. I am going to list those ways followed by a brief explanation.
Vaccinations may not be the first thing people think of when trying to lower cancer risk, but vaccines can help prevent cancers linked to infection. One example is the hepatitis B vaccine, which helps prevent hepatitis B infection and lowers the risk of cirrhosis. Because cirrhosis increases the risk of hepatocellular, or liver, cancer, preventing it can also reduce cancer risk. In people with cirrhosis, the annual risk of liver cancer is estimated to be as high as 8%. Another important example is the HPV, or human papillomavirus, vaccine. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection, and many sexually active people have been exposed to it. I will not review here how HPV can lead to cancer, but that may be a topic for a future blog. HPV increases the risk of cervical, anal, penile, vaginal, and head and neck cancers, and the HPV vaccine is estimated to prevent more than 90% of these cancers.
The environment is a little trickier. We live in a world with so many pesticides and chemicals that it is hard to escape the damaging effects of these. However, there are still things we can do when it comes to the environment to help protect us. For instance, practicing sun protection. Avoiding the sun during peak hours, protective clothing such as long sleeves and wide brimmed hats to help shade the ears and head, sunscreen with at least an SPF of 15 applied regularly even on overcast days and finally eye protection. Obtaining a pair of sunglasses that help to protect against UVA and UVB light will go a long way in protecting the only set of eyes you get. I would be remiss if I did not mention staying away from tanning beds. It is known that tanning beds increase the risk of skin cancer. The WHO (World Health Organization) has classified tanning beds as a category 1 carcinogen which puts it right alongside tobacco and asbestos.
Reducing one’s exposure to chemicals by utilizing appropriate ventilation techniques and wearing a respirator along with using pesticides only when needed can also help reduce exposure. I would love to believe that we can become a more chemical and pesticide “free” world, however, I am not that foolish. Unfortunately, these things are here to stay as they have been for an exceptionally long time. Knowing we are not going to rid the world of them, we can at least try to minimize our exposure the best we can.
The last category to consider is living a healthy lifestyle. This includes avoiding tobacco, limiting the use of alcohol, eating a healthy and balanced diet of non-processed and ultra-processed foods, and finally obtaining enough physical activity.
Those who have seen me probably think I have a broken record because I preach physical activity so much. I believe primarily that most people in the United States do not get near enough physical activity. There are good reasons for this, however, in my experience it comes down to just not wanting to do it. Some of the excuses I have heard would make your eyes roll. As an oncologist I need to make it as clear as possible that physical activity could add years of life on and protect you against cancer. Being active helps maintain a healthy weight, regulate important hormones, improve insulin sensitivity, and reduce inflammation, ALL of which contribute to a lower cancer risk.
Although there is so much more, I could write about, my blogs are meant to be shorter with the, “meat and potatoes.” Please feel free as usual to comment or ask questions and remember, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”