![]() | This article needs to be updated.(June 2024) |
Cancer prevention is the practice of taking active measures to decrease the incidence of cancer and mortality.[1][2] The practice of prevention depends on both individual efforts to improve lifestyle and seek preventive screening, and socioeconomic or public policy related to cancer prevention.[3] Globalized cancer prevention is regarded as a critical objective due to its applicability to large populations, reducing long term effects of cancer by promoting proactive health practices and behaviors, and its perceived cost-effectiveness and viability for all socioeconomic classes.[2]
The majority of cancer cases are due to the accumulation of environmental pollution being inherited as epigenetic damage and most of these environmental factors are controllable lifestyle choices.[4] Greater than a reported 75% of cancer deaths could be prevented by avoiding risk factors including: tobacco, overweight / obesity, an insufficient diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, sexually transmitted infections, and air pollution.[5][6] Not all environmental causes are controllable, such as naturally occurring background radiation, and other cases of cancer are caused through hereditary genetic disorders. Current genetic engineering techniques under development may serve as preventive measures in the future.[7] Future preventive screening measures can be additionally improved by minimizing invasiveness and increasing specificity by taking individual biological makeup into account, also known as "population-based personalized cancer screening."[2]
no data ≤ 55 55–80 80–105 105–130 130–155 155–180 | 180–205 205–230 230–255 255–280 280–305 ≥ 305 |
While anyone can get cancer,[9] age is one of the biggest factors that increases the risk of cancer: 3 out of 4 cancers are found in people aged 55 or older.