FAQ

There are several very good reasons to have a Cancer Risk Evaluation done, even if you do not have cancer. First, you will find out if you are currently exposed to a human carcinogen and, if you are currently exposed, you can learn what steps you can take to decrease or eliminate that carcinogenic exposure and cancer risk to you and anyone else who is being exposed. Also, you can begin to get appropriate screening to make sure that, if the associated cancer were to develop, it would be diagnosed early and treated. If you find that you were exposed to a carcinogen in the past, you will be able to be appropriately screened in order to detect the cancer early, if it were to occur. In either case, awareness of carcinogen exposure within your family, friends and community could be increased and advocacy to decrease carcinogenic exposures could be done.

You could still be exposed to the carcinogen, giving your body a continuous burden of a cancer-causing substance and awareness of the causal connection could lead you to minimize or eliminate this exposure.

Your family or friends could be currently exposed to the carcinogen and awareness of the causal connection could lead them to minimize or eliminate this exposure.

Your case could help raise awareness of occupational, environmental or behavioral cancer-causing exposures in the general population and the medical community, and could lead to the decrease or elimination of carcinogen exposures.

Fill out the CFA Contact Form on the Contact page and e-mail or send it to CFA. The staff at CFA will contact you and together you will fill out the CFA Cancer Risk Questionnaire. Your carcinogen exposure history will then be reviewed and evaluated to determine whether you have had any specific exposures to cancer-causing substances and whether that exposure is related to your particular type of cancer.

You can see a list of exposures which can cause cancer at Exposures Known to Cause Cancer and Exposures Known to Probably Cause Cancer.

You can see a list of cancer types caused by known cancer-causing substances at Cancer Types and Specific Carcinogens Known to be Associated with Them – IARC List and Cancer Types Known to be Related to Specific Carcinogens.

Yes. There are over 200 types of workplace exposures that have been specifically associated with occupational exposure to carcinogens, i.e. cancer-causing substances.

You can see a list of workplaces, environmental situations, and behaviors associated with cancer-causing exposures at Workplace Exposure Sites, Environmental Exposure Sites, and Behavioral Exposures.

Yes. There are many cancer-causing exposures that can occur in the home through home construction materials, substances routinely used in the home or the garden, agents used during hobbies and crafts, and also contaminates in the air, soil, and water near your home.

Yes. The latency, the period of time between your exposure to a cancer-causing substance and the development of cancer, can vary a great deal. The latency can be within a few years for leukemia to many years or even decades for solid tumors.

Yes. The duration of exposure needed for a cancer-causing substance to cause cancer varies greatly. Sometimes, only a very short period of exposure, e.g. less than a year, can trigger a cancer that develops years later. There is no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen. Risk is related to amount of exposure, the mode of exposure, exposure to other chemicals with similar toxicity and individual susceptibility.

There is no fee for the CFA Cancer Risk Evaluation. This service is provided free of charge. The first appointment via zoom or online platform is spent filling out the Cancer Risk Questionnaire with you, then the CFA staff will evaluate that information. During the online second appointment the CFA staff will discuss the findings with you and the steps you can take to manage any identified cancer risks.

If you prefer to do your own cancer risk evaluation, use the information on this website under the heading Basic CFA Database Information. By checking your workplaces, environments, and behaviors you will be able to identify carcinogenic exposures associated with those situations and the cancer types you may be at an increased risk of developing related to those exposures.