Discussion of Cancer Risk Factors and Preventable Cancers

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. If the cancer is not removed or controlled, it can result in death. Cancer can be caused by both external factors (chemicals, dusts, radiation, infectious organisms) and internal conditions (mutations, hormones, immune conditions). These factors may act alone, together or in sequence to cause cancer. External factors such as chemical agents, dusts and particulates are often referred to as carcinogens. Many years may pass between exposure to a carcinogen and the development of cancer.

The exact number of people with cancer related to occupational or environmental carcinogen exposures is not known, however, it is known that a significant number of cancer patients have cancer today because of unnecessary exposures to cancer-causing substances. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) expects 1,958,310 new cancer cases to be diagnosed in 2023, and 609,820 cancer deaths to occur in 2023. In 1981, Doll & Peto presented in their report to the US Congress (Office of Technology Assessment, 1981) an estimate of the effects of occupational carcinogen exposure on cancer mortality. They estimated that 5 – 15% of cancer deaths in the US were attributable to occupation. If one were to use these figures, it could be estimated that 30, 491 - 91,473 people in the US alone will die in 2023 from cancer which was caused by a preventable occupational exposure.

The World Health Organization’s estimates of the percentage of cancer deaths world-wide related to environmental and occupational exposures is even higher, stating in a March 2011 Fact Sheet, on environmental and occupational cancers, that of 7.6 million cancer deaths in 2008, 19% or 1.3 million were attributable to the environment, including the work setting. The World Health Organization (WHO) also stated that most of the exposure risks for occupational cancer are preventable. In general, WHO has estimated that between 30% to 50% of cancers can currently be prevented by avoiding risk factors and implementing existing evidence-based prevention strategies.

In 2016, Vice President Joe Biden spear-headed the Cancer Moonshot Initiative to accelerate cancer research to make more therapies available to more patients and improve our ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage. One member of the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel, Mary Beckerle, Ph.D., stated publicly that we know that about half of all cancers could be prevented, but right now we are not able to fully capitalize on the wealth of information that can allow us to identify the people who could most benefit from prevention strategies. Using this estimate, over 300,000 people will die in 2023 from preventable cancers.

Millions of US workers are exposed each year to substances that have tested positive as carcinogens in experimental animals. However, less than 2% of chemicals in commerce have been tested for carcinogenicity. Since 1971, the carcinogenicity of more than 900 agents has been evaluated by The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the expert cancer agency of the WHO. More than 500 of these agents have been identified as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, or possibly carcinogenic to humans. According to the updated information published by IARC in 2023, 127 agents have been identified as human carcinogens (IARC Group 1), 95 agents have been categorized as probably carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 2A), and 323 have been categorized as possibly carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 2B). Many chemicals, dusts, and particulates have not been reviewed by IARC, and many of those that have been reviewed were evaluated years ago and the evaluations are outdated. Numerous scientific studies of workers, however, have shown that occupational exposures to carcinogens lead to elevated risks for many types of cancer.

It is clear that thousands of people each year are needlessly being exposed to cancer risk factors which will ultimately lead to a diagnosis of cancer. Anything that can be done to increase cancer risk awareness and decrease exposure to cancer risk factors will no doubt save lives.

People who are currently cancer-free can benefit by asking “What cancer risks, if any, do I have? People diagnosed with cancer can benefit by asking, “What cancer risk factors are associated with my cancer?” CFA can help you find the answer by doing a Cancer Risk Evaluation for you.

National Cancer Institute, SEER Stat Fact Sheet. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html

World Health Organization, Environmental and Occupational Fact Sheet, March 2011. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs350/en/