Cancer Prevention

Although many advances in cancer research are being made, we do not precisely understand the cause of many types of cancer. However, we do know that there are many factors that put us at high risk for different types of cancer. Some of these factors are beyond our control, but there are others over which we can indeed exert influence. Presently, we have diagnostic tests available to help us detect certain cancers in their earliest stages.

The American Cancer Society recommends that all men between the ages of 20 and 40 have a medical check-up to detect cancer, and after the age of 40 an annual check-up. In addition to testing for non-cancer related diseases, this check-up must include screening for prostate cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, skin cancer and leukemia.

Read the following to learn how to prevent prostate cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer.

Prostate Cancer

Risk Factors

  • Are you over 50?
  • Do you eat foods that are high in fat?
  • Are you overweight?
  • Do you exercise?
  • Do you have family members with prostate cancer?

Preventive Measures

  • Eat a diet that is low in fat and consume lots of vegetables, fruits and grains.
  • Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.
  • Maintain a healthy weight.

Detection Screening:

Consider having a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) blood test and a digital rectal exam beginning at age 50 or at 45 (if you have one of the above mentioned risk factors, if you are Afro-American, or if you have a father or brother diagnosed with prostate cancer).

Lung Cancer

Risk Factors

  • do you samoke
  • Do you work near a material known as asbestos?
  • Have you been exposed to radon, uranium, arsenic or vinyl chloride?
  • Do you smoke marijuana?
  • Are you constantly exposed to cigarette smoke?
  • Do you have family members with lung cancer?

Preventive Measures

  • Stop smoking.
  • Encourage others in your family or workplace to quit smoking.
  • If you smoke and develop the following symptoms, talk to your doctor:
    • A cough that doesn't go away
    • Pain in the chest that worsens when breathing deeply
    • Hoarseness
    • Loss of weight and appetite
    • Breathlessness
    • Fever for no apparent reason
    • Recurrent infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia
    • A whistling sound when you breathe

Detection Screening:

None has been found to be effective. Normally lung cancer is detected with a chest X-ray, but possibly no symptoms will exist.

Colorectal Cancer

Risk Factors

Do you have family members with colon or rectal cancer?

Do you have a syndrome called colorectal cancer syndrome (also called familial adenomatous polyposis or [FAP], or Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer [HNPCC])? FAP, or familial adenomatous polyposis, and colorectal cancer without polyps (HNPCC) are hereditary syndromes that increase the risk for colorectal cancer and other cancers. The difference between these two syndromes is the number of polyps that the affected person develops. FAP is associated with the growth of hundreds or thousands of colorectal, precancerous polyps that cover all of the intestines and the rectum. HNPCC is associated with fewer than 10 polyps that appear on the right side of the intestine.

  • Do you have a personal history of colorectal cancer?
  • Do you have a personal history of intestinal polyps?
  • Have you had or do you have relatives with a chronic inflammatory disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis)?
  • Are you over 50?
  • Do you eat foods that come from animals?
  • Do you ever exercise?
  • Are you overweight?
  • Do you smoke?

Preventive Behavior

  • Follow-up on any adenomatous polyp that is detected before it becomes cancerous.
  • Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.
  • Maintain a healthy weight.
  • Eat plenty of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and limit foods that are high in fat content.
  • Quit smoking.

Detection Screening:

After the age of 50, you should follow one of the five following options:

  • A stool test for occult blood every 5 years.
  • A flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years.
  • A stool test for occult blood every 5 years and a sigmoidoscopy every 5 years.
  • A contrast barium enema every 5 years.
  • A colonoscopy every 10 years.
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