8 Ways to Cancer-Proof Your Life

Get Vaccinated, Consider Other Interventions

Gardasil, the vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV), can help prevent cervical cancer — the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among women. The vaccine can also help prevent oral cancer in men and women, vaginal cancer in women, and penile cancer in men, Presant said. It's recommended for boys and girls and young men and women through their mid-20s.

Those with a particularly high cancer risk could benefit from drugs on the market designed to prevent breast, prostate and colon cancers. You may know some of these drugs, like Celebrex, Avodart or Tamoxifen.

Men and women with a strong family history of cancer may wish to undergo genetic counseling to determine whether they are candidates for screening for cancer genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. (Harmful mutations in these two genes greatly increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer.)

In extreme cases, some women may opt for surgical removal of one or both breasts to avoid breast cancer.

Reviewed by Elaine Brown, MD on September 11, 2013

Sources

Dr. Cary Presant, oncologist and professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California; past president of the American Cancer Society

American Cancer Society:https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/geneticsandcancer/heredity-and-cancer

Centers for Disease Controlhttps://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/prevention.htm

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/hpv-gardasil.html

National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health: https://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/physicalactivity

https://www.wcrf.org/cancer_statistics/preventability_estimates/preventability_estimates_food.php

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colonandrectumcancer/detailedguide/colorectal-cancer-key-statistics

https://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/physicalactivity

https://www.cancer.org/healthy/eathealthygetactive/acsguidelinesonnutritionphysicalactivityforcancerprevention/acs-guidelines-on-nutrition-and-physical-activity-for-cancer-prevention-summary

https://www.wcrf.org/cancer_statistics/preventability_estimates/preventability_estimates_body_fatness.php

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/dietandphysicalactivity/bodyweightandcancerrisk/body-weight-and-cancer-risk-effects

https://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-036845.pdf

https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alcohol/SC00024