Of­ten, what’s known about can­cer pre­ven­tion is still evolv­ing. How­ev­er, it’s well-ac­cept­ed that your chances of de­vel­op­ing can­cer are af­fect­ed by the lifestyle choic­es you make.

If you’re in­ter­est­ed in pre­vent­ing can­cer, take com­fort in the fact that sim­ple lifestyle changes can make a dif­fer­ence. Con­sid­er these can­cer-pre­ven­tion tips.

Don’t use to­bac­co

Us­ing any type of to­bac­co puts you on a col­li­sion course with can­cer. Smok­ing has been linked to var­i­ous types of can­cer — in­clud­ing can­cer of the lung, mouth, throat, lar­ynx, pan­creas, blad­der, cervix and kid­ney.

Eat a healthy di­et

Base your di­et on fruits, veg­eta­bles and oth­er foods from plant sources — such as whole grains and beans.

Main­tain a healthy weight and be phys­i­cal­ly ac­tive

Main­tain­ing a healthy weight might low­er the risk of var­i­ous types of can­cer, in­clud­ing can­cer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon and kid­ney.

Pro­tect your­self from the sun

Skin can­cer is one of the most com­mon kinds of can­cer — and one of the most pre­ventable. Avoid mid­day sun, cov­er ex­posed ar­eas and don’t for­get to ap­ply sun­creen.

Get vac­ci­nat­ed.

Can­cer pre­ven­tion in­cludes pro­tec­tion from cer­tain vi­ral in­fec­tions. Talk to your doc­tor about vac­ci­na­tion against.

Avoid risky be­hav­iors.

An­oth­er ef­fec­tive can­cer pre­ven­tion tac­tic is to avoid risky be­hav­iours that can lead to in­fec­tions that, in turn, might in­crease the risk of can­cer. For ex­am­ple, prac­tice safe sex to avoid con­tract­ing sex­u­al­ly trans­mit­ted in­fec­tions such as HIV or HPV.

Get reg­u­lar med­ical care.

Reg­u­lar self-ex­ams and screen­ings for var­i­ous types of can­cers — such as can­cer of the skin, colon, cervix and breast — can in­crease your chances of dis­cov­er­ing can­cer ear­ly, when treat­ment is most like­ly to be suc­cess­ful. Ask your doc­tor about the best can­cer screen­ing sched­ule for you.

(Cour­tesy Mayo Cinic)