Cancer Prevention & Risk: What the Evidence Says
Cancer prevention advice is everywhere, and a lot of it oversimplifies or overstates what the evidence actually supports. This guide sticks to what's well established — the effects of alcohol, excess weight, UV exposure, and HPV vaccination on cancer risk — and is honest about the limits: no combination of habits eliminates cancer risk, and a diagnosis is never a sign someone did something wrong. It ends with a direct look at prevention claims that circulate widely but don't hold up to scrutiny.
In this guide
- 1
Prevention & Risk
Cancer Prevention: An Overview
A plain-language overview of what cancer prevention means and the actions that can lower cancer risk, based on National Cancer Institute resources.
5 min read · Beginner
- 2
Prevention & Risk
Can Cancer Always Be Prevented?
Lifestyle and screening prevent a large share of cancers, but random cellular mutations mean cancer cannot always be prevented — and that is not your fault.
2 min read · Beginner
- 3
Prevention & Risk
Alcohol and Cancer Risk: Ethanol and Acetaldehyde
Alcohol is a classified Group 1 carcinogen linked to seven cancer types, including breast, colorectal, esophageal, and liver cancers.
2 min read · Beginner
- 4
Prevention & Risk
Obesity and Cancer: A Link to 13 Cancers
A plain-language explainer on how excess body fat is linked to at least 13 cancers, and what weight and cancer risk mean
5 min read · Beginner
- 5
Prevention & Risk
Sun Safety: Simple Ways to Protect Your Skin
A plain-language guide to protecting your skin from the sun, based on guidance from the National Cancer Institute, CDC, and American Cancer Society.
5 min read · Beginner
- 6
Prevention & Risk
The HPV Vaccine: Preventing Cancer Before It Starts
What the HPV vaccine prevents, who should get it and at what ages, and its strong safety record, based on NCI and CDC resources.
5 min read · Beginner
- 7
Prevention & Risk
Fruits, vegetables and cancer risk: how strong is the evidence?
NCI's prevention summary says it is not known whether a diet high in fiber, fruits and vegetables lowers colorectal cancer risk, and explains why diet is so hard to study.
5 min read · Beginner
- 8
Cancer Claim Check
Cancer-Prevention Claims: Evidence, Uncertainty, or Myth?
A clinical claim-check framework to help you evaluate viral health claims, diets, detoxes, and supplements with scientific evidence and clarity.
6 min read · Beginner
None of this is a guarantee, in either direction — people who do everything 'right' still get cancer, and people who don't often never do. The value of this evidence is in shifting the odds, not controlling the outcome, and it's worth discussing your own risk factors with a doctor rather than trying to interpret population-level evidence as personal advice.