Cancer Risks

Risk estimates for cancer and other diseases are determined by studying large groups of people. Researchers focus on the probability that any person or category of people will develop the disease over a certain period of time. They also look to see what characteristics or behaviors are associated with increased or decreased risk. Risk is the chance that an event will happen. When talking about cancer, risk is most often used to describe the chance that a person will get cancer. It is also used to describe the chance that the cancer will come back or recur. Researchers and doctors use cancer risk to improve the health of many people. One example of this understands the risks from smoking. Scientists discovered that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer. They used this knowledge to launch a global anti-smoking campaign to help save lives.