Have you had a cancer scare?

Every two minutes in the UK someone is diagnosed with cancer.

It’s one of the most common and visible illnesses in modern medicine. 1 in 2 people living in the UK born after 1960 will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. More than a third of all cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in people over 75.

While this is a worrying statistic, the good news is, as incidences of cancer increase, treatment options also continuously improve.

While at one time a cancer diagnosis felt like a death sentence, today the survival rate for cancer is 50%.

We also know a lot more about risk factors to cancer than we once did; 38% of all cancer cases in the UK are preventable.

Smoking is the largest cause of cancer in the UK, and easily preventable.

While some factors – family history of cancer, ageing – can not be prevented, other risk factors like obesity, alcohol, poor diet can be easily managed through healthy lifestyle.

Symptoms of common cancers like breast, prostate and bowel cancer can sometimes be attributed to other things, and many people have had the experience of going in for tests or biopsy to test for cancer, but luckily get the all-clear.

Is cancer something that worries you? Do you actively take steps to try and reduce your risk, or do you believe if it’s going to happen, it will happen? Have you had a cancer scare?

Share your experiences in the comments below and vote at Speakers Corner.