Lake Regional Health System | Thrive | Summer 2018

octors can’t say with cer- tainty who will get cancer. And they can’t offer a guaranteed way to keep the disease from striking. But after reviewing thousands of studies, they’ve determined that cancer isn’t always something that just happens. “Often, cancer can be linked to habits and lifestyle,” says Michael Wang, M.D., an oncologist at Lake Regional Cancer Center. “That means your everyday choices may help you lower your cancer risk.” Certainly that’s true with smok- ing. If you choose to kick a cigarette habit or not to smoke in the first place, you dramatically lower your risk of lung cancer — and several other types of cancer. But prevention doesn’t end there. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, taking these three steps may help you stay cancer-free: 1 Eat more plant foods. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes contain phytochemicals that may bolster the body’s ability to fight cancer in a variety of ways. For example, some phytochemi- cals seem to prevent cancer-causing substances from becoming active in the A 3-step plan for Could preventing cancer be as easy as 1, 2, 3? Michael Wang, M.D. MYTH OR FACT? Test your knowledge about cancer prevention with a quick quiz. Check it out at lakeregional.com/cancer-quiz . CANCER CARE 8 | Summer 2018