Cancer Prevention

Learn and make healthy lifestyle choices that lessen your risk of cancer with help from Adventist HealthCare.

Primary Care Checkups

Visit your primary care provider on a schedule your doctor recommends. During checkups, you’ll talk about:

Cancer screening tests that may be right for you based on your age, family history or other factors
Healthy habits
Medicines or vaccines that help prevent certain types of cancer
Symptoms that could be a sign of cancer
Your personal risk factors for cancer and other health conditions

Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Lower your risk of cancer by:

Drinking alcohol in moderation or not at all
Eating a nutritious, high-fiber diet with vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean sources of protein
Exercising often
Reaching and staying at a healthy weight
Using sunscreen and avoiding too much sun exposure

Tobacco Cessation Program

If you smoke or use tobacco, quitting lowers your risk for many health problems, including cancer. Get help to quit, including one-on-one counseling over the phone and free nicotine replacement therapy.

Cancer Risk Factors

Risk factors may increase your chances of cancer. But not everyone with risk factors will develop cancer. Some people without any risk factors may still develop cancer.

Risk factors include:

Age, because most people who receive a cancer diagnosis are 65 or older – but cancer can happen at any age
Certain health conditions, such as Barret’s esophagus, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or colon polyps
Certain viruses, including viral hepatitis, HIV and HPV
Diet that includes processed and red meats and foods high in salt, trans fats and sugar
Exposure to radiation or other substances, such as asbestos or radon
Lack of exercise
More than one alcoholic drink a day for women or two drinks for men
Obesity
Personal or family history of cancer
Too much exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun or tanning beds
Smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke
Unsafe sex (sex without a condom)