February 2023 | World Cancer Day

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide; therefore, this month, we are turning our focus to World Cancer Day.

World Cancer Day, which takes place every February 4, is an international initiative with the goal to raise awareness about detection, prevention, and treatment with hopes of someday being able to prevent and better treat this awful disease known as cancer.

This year’s theme, Close the Care Gap, was chosen to celebrate the progress made in enabling more people to seek and receive screenings and other cancer related treatments that they may need and deserve. The more cancer education and resources available to all create a better chance of successful treatment.

The development of cancer involves a combination of factors which can include lifestyle, environment, and family history amongst other things. The medical community has long studied cancer to help understand, prevent and better treat the disease. While there is still much research to be done, some keys to prevention and risk reduction have been determined. These prevention tactics typically involve screenings and healthy lifestyle choices.  

Healthy Lifestyle Choices to help prevent cancer are:

• Avoid tobacco in all forms
  • Cigarette Smoking
    • Cigarette smoking is linked to approximately 80-90% of lung cancer deaths. Additionally, smoking cigarettes has been linked to causing cancer anywhere in the body as well. This is one reason that the movement to end cigarette smoking has been so large in the past few decades.
  • Secondhand Smoke
    • Secondhand smoke is smoke from other people’s pipes, cigarettes or cigars and has been linked to the development of lung cancer.
• Protect Your Skin
  • Did you know skin cancer is the most common kind of cancer in the USA?  Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and tanning beds appears to be the most important environmental factor contributing to the development of skin cancer. Be sure to protect your skin by applying sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, wearing a hat and sun-protective clothing, sunglasses and avoiding direct sunlight during peak hours.
• Limit Alcohol Intake
  • Drinking alcohol raises your risk of getting multiple forms of cancer therefore the less alcohol you drink the lower your risk for cancer development.
• Keep a Healthy Weight
  • Overweight and obesity have been known to be linked to a higher risk of some cancers and other health conditions therefore maintaining a healthy weight is advised as a way to help minimize the risk.
• Get Tested for Hepatitis C
  • Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver and most often caused by a virus with the most common type of viral hepatitis being Hepatitis C. Over time, chronic Hepatitis C can lead to serious liver problems including liver damage, cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. This is why it’s important to know your risk of Hepatitis C and to get tested for it if needed.

Reducing cancer risk through healthy lifestyle choices is just one way to help lower the risk of cancer. Being screened regularly for cancer is another excellent way to prevent cancer. Screening involves checking different parts of your body for various forms of cancer in hopes of detecting cancer cells before they are able to grow and spread. Currently the CDC recommends cancer screening for breast, colon, lung and cervical cancers as these cancers have all seen a correlation with early detection leading to better patient outcomes. Check with your provider to determine which cancer screenings may be best for you.

For more information about World Cancer Day tap or click on the Close the Care Gap Logo.