What is prevention? Cancer prevention is action taken to lower
the chance of getting cancer. By preventing cancer, the number
of new cases of cancer in a group or population is lowered.
Hopefully, this will lower the number of deaths caused by
cancer. To prevent new cancers from starting, scientists look at
risk factors and protective factors. Anything that increases
your chance of developing cancer is called a cancer risk factor;
anything that decreases your chance of developing cancer is
called a cancer protective factor. Some risk factors for cancer
can be avoided, but many cannot. For example, both smoking and
inheriting certain genes are risk factors for some types of
cancer, but only smoking can be avoided. Regular exercise and a
healthy diet may be protective factors for some types of cancer.
Avoiding risk factors and increasing protective factors may
lower your risk, but it does not mean that you will not get
cancer. Different ways to prevent cancer are being studied,
including: - Changing lifestyle o