Answered questions
Cancer
64 answered questions · 409 studies
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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?
The older you get, the more damage accumulates in your cells and the worse your body becomes at repairing or detecting that…
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 multiply instead of cleaning themselves up?
Damaged cancer cells survive by actively blocking or redirecting their own self-cleaning and self-destruction mechanisms. This…
Does having type 2 diabetes increase your risk of certain cancers?
Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of at least six cancer types, most likely primarily through chronically elevated insulin…
Is it true that artificial sweeteners cause cancer?
There are signals that high consumption of artificial sweeteners is associated with a slightly elevated cancer risk, but no…
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?
There are indications that tomatoes and lycopene may lower the risk of prostate cancer, but large clinical trials are still…
Preliminary evidence
Does eating heavily heated or burnt food increase your risk of cancer?
For most cancer types no association has been demonstrated, but for endometrial and breast cancer in non-smoking women there…
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?
A low-fat diet offers no clearly proven protection against breast cancer; the type of fat appears to matter far more than the…
Moderate evidence
Does eating from plastic packaging increase your risk of cancer?
The research source provided does not cover this question, so nothing meaningful can be said about plastic packaging and…
Insufficient 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 at a young age is associated with a lower risk of invasive penile cancer, but that effect runs partly through the…
Does working nights increase my risk of cancer?
There are indications that prolonged night work slightly increases your cancer risk, but the evidence is limited and…
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 increase your risk of cancer?
Yes, passive smoking demonstrably increases your risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer. Avoiding tobacco smoke in your…
Yes · Strong 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?
Current research provides no convincing evidence that green tea prevents cancer. Drinking a few cups a day is perfectly fine,…
No · Preliminary evidence
Does eating a lot of sugar increase my risk of cancer?
There are clear indications that regularly drinking sugar-sweetened beverages raises the risk of liver cancer in particular,…
Moderate evidence
Can breast cancer run in the family, and if so, should I get tested?
Breast cancer can be hereditary through mutations in genes such as BRCA1 or BRCA2. If this runs in your family, discuss with…
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 over the long term?
Consistently eating large amounts of red meat is associated with a less diverse gut microbiome and a higher risk of colorectal…
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 get too much sun?
Too much sun demonstrably damages your DNA and increases the risk of skin cancer. Protect your skin, especially if you have a…
Does poor sleep increase my risk of cancer?
There are cautious indications that sleep problems may increase cancer risk, but the evidence is still too thin for a firm…
Preliminary 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 screening worth it?
For most women of screening age, participation is worth it: the chance of dying from breast cancer genuinely decreases. But…
Yes · Moderate 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
How much sun is safe, and does the tanning bed really cause skin cancer?
Tanning beds demonstrably increase your risk of melanoma and other skin cancers, as does too much sun. A little daily sun…
Yes · Strong 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?
Yes, both red and processed meat consistently increase your risk of colorectal cancer by 15 to 21 percent. Processed meat…
Which lifestyle factors reduce your risk of cancer the most?
Four lifestyle choices matter most: not smoking, a healthy weight, regular physical activity and moderate alcohol consumption.…
Moderate evidence
Are commercial biological age tests based on DNA methylation worth the money?
Commercial biological age tests measure something real, but the clocks regularly contradict one another. The translation into…
Preliminary evidence
Does eating a high-fibre diet protect against colorectal cancer?
Eating more fibre, particularly from whole grains, is consistently associated with about a 25% lower risk of colorectal…
Yes · Moderate 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
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
Is a full-body MRI scan useful as a preventive measure?
For healthy people without an elevated hereditary risk a preventive full-body MRI is not useful: the chance of unnecessary…
No · 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?
More physical activity is consistently associated with a lower risk of most types of cancer. As few as 7,000 to 9,000 steps…
Yes · Moderate evidence
Does eating processed meat such as sausage and ham cause colorectal cancer?
Regularly eating processed meat such as sausage and ham measurably increases your risk of colorectal cancer. Reducing your…
Yes · Moderate evidence