How can I avoid developing cancer?
You cannot change your genes, and it’s not really practical for everyone to move into a pristine environment, avoiding pollution or jobs, which do not expose you to harmful chemicals.
What you can do to improve your chances of not getting Cancer:
Do not use tobacco, ever. If you do, quit. If you relapse, quit again. Keep trying till you succeed. Your odds will improve the further away you get from tobacco smoke exposure. Tobacco smoking contributes greatly to lung cancer, throat cancer, esophageal (food pipe) cancer and bladder cancer. Chewing tobacco causes oral cancer. Combining tobacco and alcohol use greatly increases the dangers.
Avoid sun worship: Excessive sun exposure, particularly sunburn contributes to skin cancer risk. Light skinned and light-eyed people are at greater risk to burn, but all ethnicities are at risk. In hot climates, people factored in siestas to avoid being out and about at midday. Besides avoiding the heat, this also avoided the sun at its harshest. If you have to be out, use sun block.
Eat a balanced diet, which includes fresh fruit and vegetables, with lean protein, and low fat content. Cultures, which have traditionally eaten such diets, e.g. Mediterranean diets, have lower incidence of cancer. Minimize frequent intake of charred meats, which are created during grilling. These generate chemicals called nitrosamines, which are known to cause cancer. Plant based diets e.g. tofu, and some spices, e.g. Turmeric, have been shown to be beneficial.
Do regular exercise: between the diet and exercise, keep the BMI (Body Mass Index) in the normal range. This helps in reducing incidence of Breast and Gynecological cancers, and Colon cancer. Reducing fat stores reduces places where unwanted levels of hormones can be produced, or hide. We're all busy, find a way of incorporating it into your day.
Drink alcohol in moderation: 5-7 drinks per week at most. That quantity is said to be protective against some cancers, more is bad for others. You shouldn’t start imbibing for this protective effect, that’s not necessary.
Avoid unnecessary supplements. Taking antioxidants has been a popular defense against cancer, but this has not been substantiated. In fact, in some studies, smokers who took high doses of Vitamin E had higher rates of lung cancer.
Job related exposures:
Many manufacturing jobs still require exposure to hazardous chemicals. It’s prudent to use prescribed protection against occupational hazards. We’ve come a long way since workers stood in tanks of benzene. We should continue to find ways of protecting workers against such hazards, and cleaning up environmental chemical dumps. Globally, much needs to be done.