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Komi Afetse
Chip Douglas
UWRT-1102
September,23, 2016
How to prevent cancer?
Cancer: Causes and Prevention.
Cancer is a disease that existed long before. It does not date from this century. To this
day, cancer is an incurable disease which kills millions of people every year. According to the
World Health Organization (WHO): Cancers figure among the leading causes of morbidity and
mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related
deaths in 2012. Cancer is manifested by an uncontrolled proliferation of cells, resulting in the
formation of a tumor. There are over one hundred types of cancer. Some forms of cancer are
gender specific. For example, only women are affected by the breast cancer. What are the types
of cancer that are more common in men? Which ones are specific to men? This disease which a
lot of people, including myself, do not know the causes and how to prevent it, makes thousands
of victims each day. What are the causes of cancer? How are they responsible of causing cancer?
How can we prevent this disease?
Cancer is a terrible and merciless disease that attacks anyone. Cancer affects all types of
people, regardless of the ethnicity, the gender or the age. Even children are affected by cancer.
However, there are types of cancer that are gender specific and more frequent depending on the
gender. So, what are the types of cancer that are common in men? The most common cancers in
men are: prostate cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer and colorectal cancer (WHO). The prostate
cancer is a cancer that affects only men. Why? Indeed, the prostate is an organ that only men

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have, it is for this reason that only men are affected by this type of cancer. For a man, the
probability to be diagnosed with a prostate cancer is approximately fifteen percent. Also, most of
the time, prostate cancer is not the cause of the death of men who have it. According to the
American Cancer Society: Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in
American men, behind only lung cancer. About 1 man in 39 will die of prostate cancer. Prostate
cancer can be a serious disease, but most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it.
In fact, more than 2.9 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate
cancer at some point are still alive today. Furthermore, lung cancer, liver cancer, and colorectal
cancer are likely to affect everyone. These types of cancer are among the most harmful cancers
worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2012, 1.59 million persons
died from lung cancer, 745000 people died from liver cancer, and 694000 people have
succumbed to colorectal cancer. A development of a tumor in organs is responsible of all these
types of can cancer. What are the factors that cause cancer? How are these factors responsible of
causing cancer?
Cancer in general is due to exposure to radiations such as UV radiation. Radiation is
responsible for changes(mutations) in the cells. These mutations may lead to the uncontrolled
proliferation of cells, thus resulting in the formation of a tumor. This tumor will become a cancer.
Smoking(tobacco) and the abusive consumption of alcohol are also major causes of cancer. The
tobaccos smoke contains more than forty substances -ammonia, cyanide, formaldehyde,
benzene, etc.- that cause cancer. These substances interact with the development of cells in the
organism, by damaging the DNA of cells. Therefore, the damaged cells create other unhealthy
cells. These unhealthy cells will conduct to a development of a cancer (). Similarly, in the
organism, alcohol become a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde. This chemical damage the DNA

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and prevent cells to repair it. In this way, unhealthy cells will grow, will divide, and become a
cancer.
In addition, a bad diet (non-healthy and unbalanced) and a physical inactivity are
important factors that can lead to a cancer. How? A bad diet and a lack of physical exercises are
the primary cause of obesity. Obesity is a condition in which people have a lot of body fat. An
abnormally high levels of fat is not good for the body. Indeed, a lot of fat influence negatively
the hormone metabolism and the growth factors (substances that regulate and stimulate cellular
division). In obese people, growth factors do not correctly perform their functions anymore.
Hence, cells proliferate anarchically. This uncontrolled cell division will lead to a cancer. Also,
the environmental pollution is another factor that may cause cancer. This fact is clearly shown by
Brett Israel in his article: For example, benzene, a known cause of human leukemia, is a
common pollutant in vehicle exhaust. Radon, a natural radioactive gas found in many homes,
raises the risk of lung cancer. Arsenic, linked to skin, liver, bladder and lung cancer,
contaminates some drinking water supplies. Now, knowing the factors that can cause cancer, the
question is: How to prevent cancer?