Cancer and Men
Every year, more than
300,000 men in the United States lose their lives to cancer. You can lower your
cancer risk in several ways.
What You Can Do
Don’t
smoke, and avoid secondhand smoke. More men in the United States die from lung cancer
than any other type of cancer, and cigarette smoking causes most cases.
If you’re
50 or older, get screened for colorectal cancer. Screening tests can help prevent colorectal cancer or find it early,
when treatment works best.
Protect
your skin from the sun. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United
States. Most cases of melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, are caused
by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun and tanning devices, but
fewer than 15% of men use sunscreen regularly when outside for more than an
hour. When you’re outside, follow our easy sun safety tips for men.
Stay
active and keep a healthy weight. Adopting a lifestyle that includes healthy eating and regular physical activity can help lower your risk for several kinds of cancer.
Fast Facts About Cancer and Men
The most common kinds of cancer
among men in the U.S. are skin cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Most prostate cancers grow
slowly, and don’t cause any health problems in men who have them. Treatment can
cause serious side effects. Talk to your doctor before you decide to get tested or treated for prostate cancer.
A human papillomavirus (HPV)
vaccine is recommended routinely for boys at 11 or 12 years of
age to prevent anal cancer and genital warts. The vaccine also is recommended
for all teenage boys and men through age 21, any man who has sex with men
through age 26, and men with compromised immune systems (including HIV) through age 26, if
they did not receive all three doses of the vaccine when they were younger.
