Fear. Helplessness. Body betrayal. Fatality. A diagnosis of cancer stirs these feelings in women. But cancer is no longer a death sentence. Many cancers are treatable, and we now understand how to reduce our cancer risks.


Cancer is an overgrowth of cells, which are the body’s building blocks. For some reason (sometimes controllable, sometimes not), cancer forms when cells start growing in large numbers in an abnormal fashion. It’s not unusual for this to begin very slowly and go unnoticed. Cancer cells can grow in an area of the body for 10 or more years before there is evidence that something’s wrong.

Uncontrollable reasons for cancer may include: mutations (abnormal changes) in cells we inherit; conditions that affect our body’s immunity; and hormones inside our body. Controllable causes of cancer include: tobacco exposure, including smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke; too much alcohol; contact with certain chemicals; radiation; and infections. The more we come into contact with these factors, the greater our risk for developing cancer.

A diagnosis of cancer is typically associated with the region of your body affected, such as lung or breast cancer. While public awareness of breast cancer has made it the cancer women fear most, lung cancer is the most deadly cancer in America. It’s also the cancer most easily prevented—by quitting smoking. This year, more than 160,000 Americans will die from lung cancer; one in four of those deaths is directly attributable to smoking. Lung cancer kills more women each year than any other cancer. The message: Cancer is sometimes preventable. Research shows that your chances of developing cancer increase with poor nutrition, inactivity, obesity and unprotected sun exposure.

The chances of developing cancer increase as we age. Three out of every four cancer diagnoses are in people age 55 and older. We’re more likely to develop cancer in our later years because we might accumulate exposure to things that cause cancer, such as tobacco or certain chemicals. We’re also more likely to be overweight as we age, caring less about exercise as our metabolism slows down. This year, more than 1.3 million cancer diagnoses will be made. As a woman, you have a one in three lifetime chance of receiving a cancer diagnosis.


Reduce your cancer risk by living a healthy lifestyle. Specific cancer-related factors that are in your control include: weight, nutrition, activity level and exercise, tobacco use and exposure, alcohol use, sun exposure, receiving regular checkups, and tuning in to your body. Every height has an acceptable weight range. When we go over the recommended weight for our height, we join two thirds of the adult U.S. population who are overweight or obese.

With obesity comes increased risk for a variety of illnesses, including cancer. Obesity is associated with a greater risk for breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer, and esophageal cancer.

More children are obese than ever before: 15% of children and teens are overweight. This shouldn’t surprise us: Children follow in the pattern of their parents. If your family doesn’t eat healthy foods in reasonable portions or engage in exercise, neither will your children. We’re busy watching TV or surfing the Net instead of engaging in meaningful activities or relationships. Our sedentary lifestyle is taking a toll, and cancer related deaths could rise as obesity becomes more and more prevalent.


How many diets have you tried in your lifetime? If you’re like most women, you’ll need more than your toes and fingers to count! The good news is that there are lots of diets, and most of them are probably nutritious—if you get a variety of foods. The most popular diets today focus on eating fewer carbohydrates, less fat, and more protein. For most nutritionists, a healthy diet means: eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day; fresh rather than processed foods; whole rather than processed grains; and limited amounts of fatty and processed meats.

Eating red meat and having low levels of folic acid have been linked to higher risk for colon cancer. Breast cancer incidence appears to rise in people who eat diets high in fat. Antioxidants that “fight” cancer are found in many fresh vegetables. And stay out of the drive-through: Fast-food is nutrition poor. Some chains are seeking to address this problem by offering lower fat options and smaller portions, but your best nutritional bets are still whole, healthfully prepared foods.

How much do you exercise? One in four adults gets no exercise, and most of us are living an inactive lifestyle. We have become a nation of “couch potatoes!” To reduce our cancer risks, we need exercise to speed food through the gastrointestinal system, which reduces the time that the bowel lining is exposed to potential carcinogens—chemicals that cause cancer—found in some foods. Vigorous physical activity has also proven to reduce the exposure of breast tissue to circulating estrogens, thus reducing risk for breast cancer. Physical activity can also help prevent diabetes, which is associated with pancreas and colon cancers.


Some research has shown that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol might be good for your heart, but in general, you should limit your alcohol to no more than one drink a day (two drinks a day for men). As your drinking increases, so does your risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver and breast. If you combine increased alcohol use with tobacco use, the risks of mouth, larynx, and esophagus cancers increase even more.


Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our culture. All forms of tobacco use and exposure can cause cancer, including chewing tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, and secondhand smoke. Almost all lung cancer deaths—85%—are caused by tobacco use or exposure. Smoking increases your risk for cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, cervix, kidney, and bladder. Smoking also increases your risk of other diseases, including heart disease, strokes, bronchitis, emphysema, and gastric ulcers. The good news is that Americans are starting to quit. Smoking is decreasing among teens and adults, but work still needs to be done to rid our bodies and our society of the negative effects of tobacco use.


The most common form of cancer in the world today is skin cancer. More than one million cases occur annually. The good news is that most forms of skin cancer can be cured, especially if caught early. If diagnosed and treated early, even the outlook for melanomas, the worst and most aggressive form of skin cancer, is improving. Exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays at midday (between 10 A.M. and 3 P.M.) should be avoided. A good rule of thumb: If your shadow is shorter than you are, get out of the sun! If you can’t stay out of the sun, protect yourself with a broad-brimmed hat, sunglasses with protection from ultraviolet rays, protective clothing, and sunscreens with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 12. Reapply sunscreen often and generously.


Stay attuned to your body and your senses as you age and change. You know your body better than anyone! Listen to what your body is telling you. Are you seeing changes in the way your body looks, such as differences in a mole, changes in skin color, changes in appearance of a body part, such as the shape or color of a breast or an inverted nipple? Has food started to taste differently to you—perhaps have a metallic or bland taste? Have you lost your taste for food? Have your bowel patterns changed? Are you constipated now after years of normal stools? Are you experiencing more pain, bleeding, and clots with your menstrual periods? Do you have a nagging cough that won’t go away? Is your abdomen bloated or tender after years of having a flat stomach? Do you have unexplained joint pain? Changes can be signs that you need care—discuss all changes with your health care provider
just to be sure.

The cancers that most commonly affect women across the lifespan (in order of prevalence) are: lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, uterine cancer, and ovarian cancer. The cancer most feared by many women is breast cancer. Early diagnosis can lead to excellent outcomes, with five-year survival rates of 97%, which means that 97% of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer early on in the course of the disease will still be alive five years later.

We can’t totally prevent breast cancer from occurring, but we can reduce some of the risk factors and take part in screening exams to find cancer early. Start monthly breast self-exams during your teen years. Have an annual clinical breast exam from your health care provider. Between ages 35 and 40, discuss having a “baseline” mammogram with your healthcare provider to provide a good picture of your breasts at a healthy state. From age 40 on, have an annual mammograms and a clinical breast exam. During your teen years, you should begin performing monthly breast self-exams. Our breast cancer risk increases as we age. Don’t stop checking for breast cancer just because you are approaching your 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s. With each decade of life, your risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer increases!

If you receive a diagnosis of breast cancer, treatment will depend on the type of cancer that you have. Most commonly, women who have breast cancer will undergo surgery to remove the cancerous tissue. The surgeon will also remove some of the lymph nodes from under the arm to see if any cancer cells have migrated there. The extent of surgery is often an individual’s choice: ranging from lumpectomy, toremove a tumor (the “lump”) and a small portion of the normal tissue surrounding it, to mastectomy, which may involve removing all or parts the breast to remove the cancerous tissue. In many cases, breast reconstruction is performed to reshape the breast.

After surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy may be used to kill remaining cancer cells. Because breast tumors typically require hormones for growth, oral hormone therapies focus on blocking hormone receptors. Therapies currently in use or in clinical trial include the drugs: Tamoxifen (Nolvadex), Raloxifene, Toremifene (Fareston), Megestrol acetate (Megace), Anastrozole (Arimidex), Femara (Letrozole), and Aromasin (Exemestane).

Tamoxifen, Raloxifene and Toremifene work by blocking estrogen receptors in cancer cells, thereby preventing estrogen from stimulating cancer cell growth. These drugs don’t work equally well in all women so individualized treatment is important. Megestrol acetate (Megace) is often used for advanced cancer care when women don’t respond to or have stopped responding to these selective estrogen receptor-modulators.

A promising group of drugs called aromatase inhibitors includes Anastrozole, Femara, and Aromasin. Aromatase is the enzyme that changes testosterone into estrogen in postmenopausal women. It is this conversion in post-menopausal women that needs to be interrupted so the breast cancer cells no longer have estrogen to stimulate their growth.


American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org or 800-ACS-2345
National Cancer Institute: www.cancer.gov
National Women’s Health Information Center: www.4women.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation: www.komen.org

About the Author: Joan Edwards, RNC, MN, CNS, is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing at Texas Woman’s University in Houston.