About prevention
What you eat, whether you smoke, your level of physical activity, and how much you protect yourself from the sun are all lifestyle choices that can affect your chances of getting cancer, and your chances of preventing it. Alcohol consumption also plays a part in some cancers.
There are some environmental factors which are a risk, depending on the length of time and amount of your exposure. Radon is an example of this in British Columbia and air pollution sometimes, but only where and when officials let you know it is a concern.
Knowing more about cancer risk factors and prevention is important for everyone. But it is also important for cancer survivors because of the possible risk for developing a second primary cancer (a new cancer that is not related to the original one). In fact, if second primary cancers were taken as a group, they would be the sixth most common cancer.
Please see the menu to the right for more information on each of these factors.
Assessing your health and potential cancer risk factors can help you make decisions to keep you well. Try our printable quiz and goal sheet.
You can also protect yourself through BC Cancer's screening programs, which can detect breast, cervix and colon cancer at early stages.
