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Risk factors
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A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a disease. Some risk factors can be changed; others cannot. Risk factors for cancer include a person's age, gender and family medical history. Other risk factors are linked to cancer-causing elements in the environment, or to lifestyle choices, such as tobacco and alcohol use, diet and sun exposure.
Having a risk factor for cancer means a person is more likely to develop the disease at some point in their lives. Having one or more risk factors does not necessarily mean a person will get cancer, however.
Different kinds of cancer have different risk factors. |
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Cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidney, cervix, esophagus and pancreas are related to tobacco use, such as cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff. Smoking alone causes one-third of all cancer deaths. |
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Skin cancer is related to unprotected exposure to strong sunlight. |
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Breast cancer risk increases as you get older. Most breast cancers occur in women older than age 50, with risk especially high for women older than age 60. Your risk for breast cancer is greater if you have a personal or family history of breast cancer, such as if you or a first-degree relative (mother, sister or daughter) has had a previous breast biopsy that was benign but showed suspicious cells. |
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While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, several factors can increase the chances of developing the disease, such as age, race and family history. Prostate cancer is more common in men older than age 50. Men who have a father or brother with prostate cancer at an early age are at higher risk for the disease. Prostate cancer is more likely to occur in African-American men. |
Learn how diagnostic tests determine if cancer is present in one or more spots of the body.
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