Can We Control Cancer?

By Mountain-Pacific Quality Health

April 15, 2020

April is Cancer Control Month. What does cancer control mean?

“Cancer control” focuses on preventing cancer (reducing the number of people who get cancer), avoiding complications (side effects or conditions that happen or get worse because of cancer or treatment) and lowering mortality rates (helping people survive cancer).

Preventing Cancer

Research and studies show we can take action to lower our risk for getting cancer. Making healthy choices is a strong start.

Avoid tobacco. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer among men and women. Compared to nonsmokers, people who smoke are 25 times more likely to die from lung cancer. Smoking can also cause cancer of the mouth and throat, stomach, colon, liver, pancreas and more. Secondhand smoke also increases cancer risks. If you or a family member has a smoking habit, learn how to quit at gov.
Limit alcohol. Studies show regularly drinking alcohol increases your risk for several types of cancer, including liver, breast and throat. If you do not drink alcohol, don’t start. If you do drink, do it in moderation, which means no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.
Protect your skin. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. To protect your skin, limit your exposure to ultraviolet rays by never using tanning beds and staying in the shade or applying sunscreen when you’re outdoors.
Keep a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese raises your cancer risk. A healthy weight is different for everyone, depending on your age, gender, how much exercise you get and more. Learn how to assess your weight and tips for exercise, healthy eating and more.

Another important part of cancer prevention is screening. The best time to get tested is before you ever have symptoms. Most health insurance companies cover regular screenings for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers. Talk with your primary care provider about what screenings he or she would recommend for you. You can also visit the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force website to learn more.

Avoiding Complications

Unfortunately, being as healthy as possible isn’t always enough. Other factors also play a role in our risk for cancer and, despite our best efforts, we could still get a cancer diagnosis. Cancer and its treatments often cause side effects, or problems related to the disease or to treatment. These complications include a long list of side effects such as fatigue, nausea and vomiting, hair loss, urinary and bladder problems and many more.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer and is experiencing problems, speak up. Your doctor or another member of your health care team can talk with you about ways to manage side effects and help you feel better during treatment.

Lowering Mortality Rates

The number of people who die from cancer has gotten significantly smaller over the last 25 years or so. In fact, from 2016 to 2017, the United States saw the biggest one-year drop in deaths from cancer ever recorded.

Why?

The number of cancer deaths going down is a hopeful sign that prevention efforts, screenings and advancements in treatment are all going up. This proves we have an important role to play in cancer control.

Doing Our Part

While we do not always know the exact cause of cancer, research has proven we can take steps to reduce our risk. By learning about and working to side step your personal risk factors, and by talking to you doctor about getting screened, we can all support cancer control. Open communication with your health care team is also key in avoiding complications during treatment and improving cancer survival rates, which also help with cancer control.

Want to learn more? Read about our country’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, or you can check out current cancer control plans in your state, U.S. territory or tribe/tribal organization.

Resources

https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/what-is-cancer-control.html

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/patient-prevention-overview-pdq

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/prevention/index.htm

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/side-effects

https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/facts-and-figures-2020.html