Prevention and Detection

Prevention

Diet and Nutrition
Exercise
Other Factors

Detection

BRCA Test
CA125 Test
Self Examination
The Most Important Questions You Can Ask Your Doctor

Diet and Nutrition

Although it's not known exactly how diet and exercise reduce the risk of cancer, we do know that a high fat diet, obesity, and a lifestyle without adequate physical activity are often factors in the development of cancer as well as coronary artery disease. If one third of the 500,000 deaths from cancer in the United States each year are related to unhealthy eating and lack of exercise, it is clear that many lives could be saved if these life habits could be changed.

The American Institute for Cancer Research is a leading charity in the field of diet, nutrition and cancer prevention. Their website (linked below) is full of information to help you learn about food, nutrition, and how they relate to cancer.

Ideal Weight Guidelines
Nutrition
Vitamins
The American Institute for Cancer Research Online

Exercise

Physical activity can protect against some cancers. Overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk of colon and rectal cancer, prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, breast cancer in postmenopausal women, and kidney cancer. In addition, people who exercise regularly tend to eat a generally healthful diet. Again, these interactions are complex and are incompletely understood.

Other factors

The effect of tobacco and alcohol combined on the risk of developing cancer is greater than the sum of their individual effects. High alcohol consumption also is associated with a poor dietary intake.

Diet and physical activity have shown the strongest influence in protecting against breast, colorectal, endometrial, lung, oral, prostate, and stomach cancer. Although a weaker association is shown for other cancers, those listed above represent the vast majority of malignant diseases affecting Americans today.