Prevention of cancer attempts to eliminate the disease by protecting the individual and the community from the causative agent. This is called primary prevention. This involves environmental monitoring of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens), identification of high risk groups and procedures to abolish any contact between the carcinogen and the host.

Prevention also aims at correcting those pathological states which have already been produced, and which if allowed to continue, may end in cancer. This is called of such cases made possible through mass screening techniques applicable to cancer of the cervix, lung, mouth stomach and liver, fall into this category., should arouse suspicion.

Primary Prevention:

The most important point under primary prevention of cancer is imparting proper education to people about factors that can lead to cancer.

Secondary Prevention:

As already stated, it aims at correcting those pathological states which have already been produced, and which if allowed to continue, may lead to symptoms of cancer.

Screening for cancer comes under this category and the two important cancers that can come under this program are:

1. Cancer of the uterine cervix
2. Cancer of the breast

General Preventive Measures:

1. Improvement of personal hygiene such as of mouth, skin and genitals will help to reduce the incidence of certain types of cancer.
2. Control of air pollution can be regarded as another preventive measure.
3. All drugs, cosmetics, and food additives should be tested for carcinogenesis.
4. Special efforts should be made to reduce the amount of radiation (including medical radiation) received b each individual to a minimum without reducing the benefits.
5. Measures to protect worker from carcinogenic agents should be enforced in industries. Use of pesticides of various types is being recognized as a source of many diseases, including cancers. Use of DDT/BHC, Malathion and such other pesticides should be reduced and regulated.
6. Cancer registration is an important means of prevention of cancer. It provides a base for assessing the magnitude of the problem in an area and country and for planning the necessary services. It provides opportunities to study:

Incidence and prevalence of cancer.
Geographic differences in cancer.
Clustering (in time, space or person) of specific cancers.
Effect of socio-economic variables upon cancer incidence.
Effect of occupational exposures upon cancer rates.
Influence of other environmental exposures upon the development of cancer.
Length of survival as related to specific cancer treatment.

7. Diet and human life-styles have a potential effect on cancer in a community. Cancer of the gastrointestinal tract are probably closely related to diet and life-styles. Food, particularly fat, having even traces of pesticides in it, can prove carcinogenic in the long run.

Cancer is a multi-stage phenomenon. Interruption is possible at different stages.

You may prevent cancer if you…

• Avoid smoking, especially cigarettes.

• Avoid drinking excessive alcohol.

• Avoid excessive sun exposure, if you are light-skinned.

• Avoid using birth control pills indiscriminately.

• Avoid using oestrogens for menopausal symptoms except under specific guide-lines.

• Avoid early or frequent intercourse, especially with multiple sex partners.

• Try to have only two or three pregnancies, after the age of 20, but do not wait until after 30 to have your first.

• Avoid foods that contain nitrites and nitrates, these are found mainly in preserved meats, e.g. bacon and other cured meats.

• Avoid color additives as much as possible. This is often difficult as many foods contain them, and a sensible balance may have to be accepted.

• Wash insecticides off all fresh fruit and vegetables.

• Avoid artificial sweeteners if possible, e.g. saccharin.