You may have come to OncoLink searching for information for your friend or family member who has a diagnosis of cancer. At the same time you may be wondering about your own risk of cancer. Why them? Could it be me? What can I do differently to lower my risk of developing cancer?

Reduce My Risk is a tool to help you learn about factors that affect your personal risk of many types of cancer and - most importantly - what you can do to decrease that risk.

What do you do with the information I provide?

We collect the answers people provide to be used in future development of the program and research related to use of such a program. Your use of the program is completely voluntary. We will not ask you for any personally identifiable information. If you choose to email your report to yourself, be advised that we do not store your email address or use it for anything other than delivering the report. Because of this, we cannot respond to any questions submitted in the user satisfaction survey at the end of the program. If you require assistance, please send us your comment or question.

Understanding Cancer Risk

The concept of cancer risk is very complex. In fact, some cancer researchers spend their entire career analyzing risk and developing ways to quantify it. While you may think about cancer risk as "what is the chance I will develop cancer?", a researcher thinks of how risk applies to entire populations and uses complex formulas to determine this risk. It is not necessary to understand the science of risk to reduce your own risk. Understanding the basics of cancer risk will help you better interpret what this tool tells you, what your healthcare providers tell you, or what you hear in the news.

• Cancer risk in a nutshell is the chance that you will develop a cancer.
• Many factors play into your risk; do you smoke?, do you use a tanning booth?, did your mother have cancer?
• Some factors are things you can change such as smoking. We call these modifiable risk factors.
• Some factors you cannot change, such as your family history. These are called unmodifiable risk factors.
• Some risk factors increase the chance of one type of cancer, while others can increase the risk of several types.
• This program is designed to identify your risk factors, both modifiable and unmodifiable, and help you focus on things you can change or do to reduce your risk.

Why can't you tell me my risk of getting cancer in a number?

Unfortunately, cancer risk is not an exact science. Not every risk factor affects every person in the same way and different risk factors carry different weight. It is also important to remember that cancer is not just one disease, but many different diseases. Your risk factors likely increase your risk of different cancers than your friend's risk factors. Your genetic makeup is an important part of your risk, though researchers don't have a complete understanding of this yet. Research that helps determine your risk is based on studies of entire populations, and therefore any percentage chance of getting cancer is just an estimate and no guarantee. For this reason, Reduce My Risk will not focus on determining your exact level of risk, but will help you identify things you can do to decrease your overall cancer risk.