Survey: Many Assume They Can't Control Cancer Risk

Tweet

There's plenty of fear about cancer, but a new American Cancer Society poll found more than a third of Americans surveyed - 36% - believe they have little or no control over reducing their risk for getting the disease. "There's nothing I can say about it. I don't think I have any control," said Stephanie Smith of Raleigh, North Carolina. But the American Cancer Society says the way we live has an enormous effect on our idols of getting cancer. The organizations estimates more than a half of all cancer deaths are related to lifestyle. "People really aren't aware that people have some control over their cancer risk," said Colleen DOyle, director of nutrition and physical activity at the American Cancer Society. Smoking is at the top of the list of activities that increase the risk of cancer and America's 45 million smokers are significantly raising their chances of getting a number of cancers. An unhealhtful diet and lack of exercise contribute to a third of the more than 500,000 cancer deaths every year in the United States, according to the ACS. Americans also need to do a better job of getting screened for cancer, especially for colon cancer, doctors agree. Catch cancer early and the chances of surviving the dreaded disease improves dramatically. Although most women are aware of the need for mammograms and Pap tests to screen for breast and cervical cancers, far fewer know about the need for colonoscopies for colon cancer, said Dr. Jim Hotz, a Georgia doctor who is an expert on cancer and rural health care. Two-thirds of Americans are unaware they need to begin colonscopies at age 50, and earlier if they have a family history of colon cancer. "This is a test where there is a flat educational barrier," he said. Some 56,000 Americans die of colon cancer each year even though almost all of those deaths are preventable through colonscopies, which can detect polyps before they become malignant. Since 2001, Medicare has covered colonscopies for people over age 65. Yet only 27% of Medicare recipients received the cancer screening in the past five years, according to statistics compiled by the Carolinas Center for Medicare Excellence.