Things you can do to help decrease your risk of certain cancers:
- Knowing your personal family history and risk factors can help you know what you are at risk for.
- Being enrolled in health insurance is important so that you can go to regular doctor appointments.
- Don’t use tobacco products. Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in the United States. Nearly 9 out of 10 lung cancers deaths are caused by smoking cigarettes or secondhand smoke exposure
- Limit alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol raises your risk of getting six kinds of cancer: mouth and throat, voice box (larynx), esophagus, colorectal, liver, and breast.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle that includes a well-rounded diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Incorporate physical activity into your life in a safe and fun way.
- Protect yourself from the sun’s harmful rays (UV rays). Use sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 30, wear protective clothing and accessories, avoid indoor tanning and suntanning, and seek shade when possible. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, one in five people will get skin cancer.
- Be up to date on your vaccines. The HPV vaccine (Gardasil-9) is cancer prevention. HPV is a common virus that can cause six different cancers: cervical, oropharyngeal (back of the throat), vaginal, penile, vulvar, and anal. HPV vaccination can prevent 90% of these cancers. The HPV vaccine is approved for patients up to age 45. Most people do not know they have HPV, and many times there are no symptoms. Preventing infection by vaccination is the best tool to protect yourself.
- Know your Hepatitis status. In the U.S., most liver cancers are linked to hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Hepatitis B vaccine is recommended and available for all children and most adults. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C, but testing and treatment are available for both hepatitis B & C. All adults ages 18-79 should be screened at least one time for hepatitis C. More than half of persons living with hepatitis do not know that they have the virus.