What can I do to lower my chance of getting cancer?

Studies have shown that people can reduce their risk of developing cancer if they do the following:

• Avoid tobacco in any form.
• If you drink alcohol, limit yourself to one or two drinks a day.
• Limit your exposure to the sun, as well as to tanning beds and sun lamps.
• Eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. This includes two to four servings of fruits and three to five servings of vegetables.
• Limit high-fat foods.
• Be active. Both vigorous and moderate activity appears to lower cancer risk.

In addition, talk to your doctor about regular cancer screenings. These tests can find cancers of the breast, cervix, colon and rectum early, before symptoms develop.

For more information on how to prevent cancer or find it early, go to www.cancer.gov and type "prevention" in the search field.

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