Prevention includes measures that stop cancer from developing. This approach, sometimes also called primary prevention by public health professionals, can be accomplished by identifying and, whenever possible, avoiding factors known to increase a person's risk of developing cancer, and by actively taking measures to reduce one's risk. The American Cancer Society and other organizations interested in cancer prevention conduct many studies to identify cancer risk factors. A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of developing a disease such as cancer.
Different cancers have different risk factors.
For example, smoking is a risk factor for cancers of the lungs, mouth, throat, larynx, bladder, and several other organs. Unprotected exposure to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Some risk factors, including lifestyle choices such as smoking, an unhealthy diet, unprotected sun exposure, or alcohol abuse can be modified. Others, such as a person's age and race or an inherited or genetic predisposition to developing certain cancers cannot be changed. Many people with one or more risk factors never develop cancer, while others who do, have no known risk factors.