Risk Factors for Cancer Death

More Than One Third of Cancer Deaths May be Attributable to Nine Modifiable Risk Factors is one of the headlines on the Medscape Medical News sent out Nov. 21, 2005. Though this may seem like 'old news' it is still true today. We have more control over our health and its outcome than we give ourselves credit for. The nine factors that are mentioned are very modifiable depending on what each one of us thinks is possible.

Here they are: smoking, excessive alcohol use, low consumption of fruits and vegetables, high body mass index, physical inactivity, unsafe sex, urban air pollution, indoor use of solid fuels, and injections from healthcare settings contaminated with hepatitis B or C virus.
In high-income countries smoking, alcohol use, and overweight and obesity were the most important causes of cancer.

Source: Lancet. 2005; 366:1784-1793