Answered questions
Cancer
68 answered questions · 471 studies
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Does linoleic acid in tissue increase the risk of skin cancer?
The available research provides no basis for viewing linoleic acid in tissue as a risk factor for skin cancer; for BCC,…
No · Preliminary evidence
What is the role of chronic inflammation in the development of cancer?
Chronic inflammation is a proven driver of cancer: it promotes every step of tumour formation and makes tumours more resistant…
Yes · Strong evidence
Which cancer screenings are worthwhile, and from what age?
Colorectal cancer screening from age 50 and mammography from age 40 have the best evidence base for the average person; lung…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Can you repair DNA damage, or can you only prevent it?
Your body actively repairs DNA damage through multiple well-studied mechanisms, but that repair is not always perfect and…
Yes · Strong evidence
Does your telomere length tell you anything useful about your health?
Telomere length is a relevant biological measure, but does not give a clear-cut signal: shorter telomeres increase the risk of…
Moderate evidence
How can you detect melanoma early?
Early detection of melanoma is best achieved by regularly checking your own skin, knowing the ABCDE features, and consulting a…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does alcohol increase your risk of cancer, even with one drink a day?
Yes, even one drink a day increases the risk of certain cancers, particularly breast and colorectal cancer. There is no safe…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does eating less red meat lower your risk of cancer?
Eating less red and processed meat probably lowers your risk of colorectal cancer, and possibly of several other cancer types…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Why does the risk of cancer increase with age?
Cancer occurs more frequently at older ages because DNA damage accumulates, the immune system declines, and damaged cells can…
What is the relationship between cancer and senescent cells?
Senescent cells initially protect against cancer, but when they accumulate they can actually promote tumour growth through…
What does smoking do to your gut and gut microbiome?
Smoking disrupts your gut microbiome and increases the risk of intestinal inflammation, gastrointestinal complaints and…
Why do damaged cells sometimes continue to divide instead of eliminating themselves?
Damaged cells escape elimination through multiple, well-documented mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms is valuable…
Does having type 2 diabetes increase your risk of certain cancers?
Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of several cancers, including liver, pancreatic, uterine and colorectal cancer. If you have…
Is it true that artificial sweeteners cause cancer?
The vast majority of population research does not confirm a causal association between artificial sweeteners and cancer. There…
Does working with pesticides increase your risk of cancer?
Working with pesticides is associated in multiple studies with an increased risk of several types of cancer, including…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does maintaining a healthy weight still help after a cancer diagnosis?
For most cancer types, a healthy weight after diagnosis is associated with better survival, but note: unintentional weight…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Can low progesterone levels cause symptoms before menopause?
Low progesterone levels can cause symptoms well before menopause, such as an increased risk of uterine cancer, more abdominal…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does a chronic hepatitis B or C infection increase your risk of liver cancer?
Yes, a chronic hepatitis B or C infection strongly and demonstrably causally increases your risk of liver cancer. Get tested…
Do lycopene and tomatoes protect against prostate cancer?
The association between tomatoes, lycopene, and lower prostate cancer risk is plausible, but not yet proven firmly enough to…
Preliminary evidence
Does eating heavily heated or charred food increase your risk of cancer?
Heavily heated or charred meat likely increases the risk of certain types of cancer, although the associations in humans are…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does sitting a lot increase my risk of cancer, even if I exercise?
Sitting a lot increases your risk of certain cancers, even if you exercise. In addition to moving regularly, try to reduce…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does fasting or intermittent fasting help prevent cancer?
There is no evidence that fasting prevents cancer in humans; the animal results are promising but contradictory. If you want…
Preliminary evidence
Does a Helicobacter infection in your stomach increase your risk of stomach cancer?
An H. pylori infection demonstrably increases your risk of stomach cancer, but the risk for any individual remains limited.…
Is it true that a low-fat diet protects against breast cancer?
Simply eating less fat probably offers no demonstrable protection against breast cancer. Those who want to reduce their risk…
No · Preliminary evidence
Does eating from plastic packaging increase your risk of cancer?
There is clear evidence that substances that leach from plastic, such as BPA and PCBs, are associated with cancer; for micro-…
Moderate evidence
Are there dietary patterns that have been proven to reduce your risk of cancer?
The Mediterranean diet and sufficient vegetables and fruit are consistently associated with a lower cancer risk, although the…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does frequent mobile phone use increase the risk of brain tumours?
Normal mobile phone use does not appear to increase the risk of brain tumours, but with more than ten years of intensive use…
Moderate evidence
What exactly does the HPV vaccine do for your protection against cervical cancer?
The HPV vaccine provides strong protection against cervical cancer, but works best when received before first sexual contact;…
Is it true that circumcision protects against penile cancer and HPV?
Circumcision before adulthood reduces the risk of invasive penile cancer and high-risk HPV, but penile cancer is rare in…
Does working at night increase my risk of cancer?
Night work probably increases the risk of breast cancer, and possibly of other types of cancer. If you have been working night…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does aspirin or ibuprofen protect against colorectal cancer?
Aspirin demonstrably protects against colorectal cancer in people with a hereditary elevated risk (Lynch syndrome) and in…
Moderate evidence
Does using the contraceptive pill increase my risk of cancer?
The pill demonstrably lowers the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer, but slightly raises the risk of breast cancer with…
Moderate evidence
Does taking vitamin D help against cancer?
If you already have enough vitamin D in your blood, extra supplementation probably does not help against cancer. If you have a…
No · Moderate evidence
Can smoking permanently damage your DNA?
Smoking damages your DNA in multiple ways simultaneously and leaves recognisable mutation patterns in at least 17 types of…
Does passive smoking (secondhand smoke) increase your risk of cancer?
Passive smoking increases your risk of cancer, with the strongest evidence for lung cancer. The risk is real but smaller than…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Is it true that smoking causes cancers other than lung cancer?
Smoking is causally linked to at least fifteen cancers outside the lung; quitting smoking reduces that risk, and the sooner…
Does green tea protect against cancer?
Drinking green tea is not a proven protection against cancer: cell and animal research is promising, but studies in humans…
Preliminary evidence
Does eating a lot of sugar increase my risk of cancer?
Drinking large amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a noticeably higher risk of certain cancers,…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Can I inherit breast cancer in the family, and should I get tested?
Breast cancer can be hereditary, and if you recognise multiple cases in your family, it is sensible to discuss this with your…
Yes · Strong evidence
Is a colonoscopy the only way to detect bowel cancer early?
A colonoscopy is not the only way to detect bowel cancer early. Stool-based tests, CT scans and sigmoidoscopy are recognised…
No · Moderate evidence
Does a large belly increase my risk of cancer more than being simply overweight?
A large belly raises the risk of colorectal cancer in particular more than ordinary overweight does, and measuring your waist…
Yes · Moderate evidence
What does eating red meat do to your gut in the long term?
Eating a lot of red and processed meat measurably increases your risk of colorectal cancer, although for most people the…
Can DNA damage in your cells repair itself?
Your cells repair DNA damage constantly and on a large scale, but this capacity is not unlimited: complex or repeated damage…
Does drinking coffee protect against liver cancer?
Drinking coffee is consistently associated with a lower risk of liver cancer, and that association is better supported than…
Yes · Strong evidence
What happens to your DNA when you spend too much time in the sun?
Too much sun damages your DNA in a way that can demonstrably lead to skin cancer; sun protection and monitoring medication use…
Does poor sleep increase my risk of cancer?
Poor sleep, and certainly untreated sleep apnoea, is associated with an increased cancer risk, but it has not yet been proven…
Moderate evidence
Does metformin lower your risk of cancer or dementia?
In people with diabetes there are indications that metformin lowers overall cancer risk, but the evidence varies or is absent…
Moderate evidence
Which supplements or medications are best not combined with NAD+?
The combination of NAD+ supplements (particularly nicotinamide) with platinum-based chemotherapy is the most concrete reason…
Preliminary evidence
What does telomerase do to the length of your telomeres?
Telomerase keeps telomeres intact for longer by compensating for shortening during cell division, but in most body cells the…
Does niacinamide (vitamin B3) visibly benefit your skin?
Niacinamide cream (5%) demonstrably improves ageing skin and skin tone, and is safe to use. For people with a history of skin…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does stress really lower my immune defences?
Prolonged stress measurably lowers your immune defences and even weakens the effectiveness of vaccines. Short-term stress, by…
Can long-term inflammation in your body cause cancer?
Prolonged low-grade inflammation is a recognised risk factor for several types of cancer. The evidence is strongest for bowel…
Is breast cancer population screening worth it?
For most women, participating in the population screening programme yields more benefit than cost, though this varies by age…
Yes · Strong evidence
Should I, as a man, get tested for prostate cancer with the PSA test?
Whether the PSA test is worthwhile depends on your personal risk. Men aged 55 to 69 with an elevated risk, such as a family…
Moderate evidence
Does being overweight increase my risk of cancer, and if so, which types?
Excess weight increases your risk of at least 13 types of cancer, including uterine, colorectal, breast and liver cancer.…
From how much alcohol do I actually face a higher risk of cancer?
Even with light drinking your risk of mouth, throat, oesophageal and breast cancer is already measurably higher. A safe lower…
Does drinking less alcohol noticeably lower your cancer risk?
Drinking less or no alcohol noticeably reduces your cancer risk. After smoking and excess weight, alcohol is the third largest…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does red and processed meat really increase your risk of colorectal cancer?
Multiple large studies consistently show that high consumption of red meat, and especially processed meat, raises the risk of…
Which lifestyle factors reduce your cancer risk the most?
Not smoking, a healthy weight, regular exercise and little or no alcohol have the strongest and best-supported protective…
Strong evidence
Are commercial DNA-methylation-based biological age tests worth the money?
The underlying technology has scientific merit, but commercial tests have not yet been independently validated and the…
Moderate evidence
Does eating a high-fibre diet help protect against colorectal cancer?
Eating more fibre is consistently associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer, with whole grains having the strongest…
Yes · Strong evidence
Does bowel cancer screening really help (less mortality)?
For people aged 45 to 75 with average risk, colorectal cancer screening is worthwhile and widely recommended. It demonstrably…
Yes · Strong evidence
Is there a safe amount of alcohol?
If you want to limit your health risks, stopping completely is the most evidence-based choice. Major international health…
Moderate evidence
Is red and processed meat really bad for me?
Yes, and this applies above all to processed meat: the association with colorectal cancer and cardiovascular disease is solid…
Yes · Strong evidence
What can I do myself to lower my risk of cancer?
By not smoking, limiting alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising enough, you can demonstrably lower your risk of…
Moderate evidence
Which health checks are genuinely worthwhile and which are a waste of money?
Cervical cancer screening (ages 21-65) and lung cancer screening (ages 50-80, 20+ pack-years) have the strongest evidence base…
Moderate evidence
Does exercise lower my risk of cancer?
Regular physical activity is associated with a clearly lower risk of several cancers in large population studies. Alongside…
Yes · Strong evidence
Does eating processed meat such as sausage and ham give me colorectal cancer?
Eating a lot of processed meat measurably raises your risk of colorectal cancer by around 18-21%. Eating less sausage and ham,…
Yes · Strong evidence