Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides information and answers for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
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Our highly trained specialists are available 24/7 via phone and on weekdays can assist through video calls and online chat. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with essential services and resources at every step of their cancer journey. Ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
- Referrals to patient-related programs or resources
- Donations, website, or event-related assistance
- Tobacco-related topics
- Volunteer opportunities
- Cancer Information
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
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- Common Questions About Causes of Cancer
- Is Cancer Contagious?
- Lifetime Risk of Developing or Dying From Cancer
- How to Interpret News About Cancer Causes
- Determining if Something Is a Carcinogen
- Known and Probable Human Carcinogens
- Cancer Clusters
- Cancer Warning Labels Based on California's Proposition 65
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- Reasons to Quit Smoking
- Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking Over Time
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- Making a Plan to Quit and Planning Your Quit Day
- Quitting Smoking or Smokeless Tobacco
- Quitting E-cigarettes
- Nicotine Replacement Therapy to Help You Quit Tobacco
- Dealing with the Mental Part of Tobacco Addiction
- Prescription Medicines to Help You Quit Tobacco
- Ways to Quit Tobacco Without Using Medicines
- Staying Tobacco-free After You Quit
- Help for Cravings and Tough Situations While You're Quitting Tobacco
- How to Help Someone Quit Smoking
- Why People Start Smoking and Why It’s Hard to Stop
- Keeping Your Kids Tobacco-free
- Empowered to Quit
- Harmful Chemicals in Tobacco Products
- Is Any Type of Tobacco Product Safe?
American Cancer Society Guideline for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention
This is a condensed version of the article describing the American Cancer Society (ACS) Guideline for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention. The full article (including references), which is written for health care professionals, is available online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians at: https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21591
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, behind only heart disease. People with cancer also often experience physical effects (from the cancer itself and from treatment), distress, and a lower quality of life. Quality of life can also be affected for family members, caregivers, and friends of people with cancer.
For most Americans who do not use tobacco, the most important cancer risk factors that can be changed are body weight, diet, and physical activity. At least 18% of all cancers diagnosed in the US are related to excess body weight, physical inactivity, excess alcohol consumption, and/or poor nutrition, and thus could be prevented.
Along with avoiding tobacco products, staying at a healthy weight, staying active throughout life, and eating a healthy diet may greatly reduce a person's lifetime risk of developing or dying from cancer. These same behaviors are also linked with a lower risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.
Although these healthy choices can be made by each of us, they can be helped or slowed by the social, physical, economic, and regulatory environment in which we live. Community efforts are needed to create an environment that makes it easier for us to make healthy choices when it comes to diet and physical activity.
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