Cancer Prevention
What increases my risks of getting cancer?
Several things can increase your risks of getting cancer. The best known would be cigarette smoking. In fact there are over 15 cancers where cigarette smoking is absolutely related. So 90% of people with lung cancer are cigarette smokers. There are 10% who aren't, but its the overwhelming majority. Alcohol can also be related especially when combined with cigarette smoking. It seems to be a double risk. Other things are less understood. There are certain environmental exposures - perhaps heavy exposures to pesticides. Many veterans in the Viet Nam War exposed to Agent Orange have a higher rate of cancer. And people who live close to nuclear disasters, such as Three Mile Island or Chernobal, all had higher risks of cancer. Those are the main environmental risk factors.
How does drinking alcohol increase my cancer risk?
Alcohol can increase your risk of getting cancer, because it is an irritant. Sometimes people can feel when they drink, either a beer or a hard alcoholic beverage that it burns when it goes down. And alcohol does irritate the epithelium. The lining in the mouth, the throat and even the stomach. And those are the most common cancers that are increased by alcohol. So that's one way, is chronic irritation of the mouth, the throat, and the stomach. Another way that alcohol can contribute is if it causes liver disease. Alcohol is one of the top causes of cirrhosis in this country. So people who have had heavy alcohol intake for about twenty years have a high incidence of cirrhosis. And people with cirrhosis are at a very high rate of risk for liver cancer. Those are the two main ways which alcohol can contribute.
How does being overweight increase my risk of getting cancer?
I think that obesity has always been studied in many parts of the country and world with regards to particular risk of cancer. I don't believe there has been any particular causative association between obesity and malignancy or obesity and cancer. However when looking at studies and looking back at different studies there has been a higher association between obesity and overweight associated with cancer. However there hasn't been a causal association so I can't tell you that being overweight means that you will get cancer but there are a lot more people who are overweight who have cancer.
Are there cancer-fighting foods?
The only supplement and or type of food that can possibly lead to a decreased risk of cancer or disease is probably the antioxidant class of food or supplements, and those would include pomegranates, blueberries, dark chocolates getting a lot of attention which I love. I think from a data standpoint and literature there isn't a ton of data to support that, but we do know that certain diseases such as skin cancer melanomas are based on or derive themselves from DNA damage and oxidative damage induced by sun exposure and other types of exposures can be reversed or prevented by the use of antioxidants. So it may be a fad. It may be great from a marketing stand point, but I think antioxidant type supplement and or foods I think are worth it in terms of decreasing your risk of a potential cancers and disease.
What are the environmental risk factors for cancer?
Environmental risk factors for cancer. That is a tricky topic because the truth is, we are all exposed to vegetables that have pesticides, or energy from power lines, or background radiation, and we don't all get cancer. So there has to be an interplay between genetic susceptibility and our environment. Some of the best known agents, however, are strong chemicals. Benzene is a good example. It used to be used as an industrial solvent and is now known to be a carcinogen, and so its use is greatly restricted. Things like fertilizers and toxic chemicals for agriculture have been associated with cancer. Radon is a form of radiation which may seep out of the ground in certain parts of the country. That has been suspicious. Asbestos, in the past, was associated with mesothelioma, a special kind of lung cancer. In the past twenty or thirty years, there've been great efforts to limit people's exposures to known carcinogens.
