What causes cancer? Cancer is caused by accumulated damage to genes. Such changes may be due to chance or to exposure to a cancer causing substance. The substances that cause cancer are called carcinogens. A carcinogen may be a chemical substance, such as certain molecules in tobacco smoke. The cause of cancer may be environmental agents, viral or genetic factors. We should bear in mind, though, that in the majority of cancer cases we cannot attribute the disease to a single cause. We can roughly divide cancer risk factors into the following groups: biological or internal factors, such as age, gender, inherited genetic defects and skin type environmental exposure, for instance to radon and UV radiation, and fine particulate matter occupational risk factors, including carcinogens such as many chemicals, radioactive materials and asbestos lifestyle-related factors Lifestyle-related factors that cause cancer include: tobacco alcohol UV radiation in sunlight some food-r...
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