Cancer Prevention

While some cancers are not able to be prevented, others can be avoided by making healthy lifestyle choices and getting screened at recommended intervals. Cancer Prevention is about limiting risks by stopping new cancer cases from developing, detecting some cancers at early, highly treatable stages, and preventing cancer deaths.

What you should do to prevent cancer

• Fill out a family health history form with your close relatives and show it to your healthcare provider
• Get screened for cancer as recommended by your healthcare provider
• Do not smoke tobacco and avoid second hand smoke
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
• Get a lot of physical exercise
• Avoid excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun and tanning beds
• Practice safer sex
• Get your home checked for radon
• Limit alcohol consumption
• Get vaccinated for hepatitis B vaccine to reduce liver cancer risk
• Get vaccinated for human papillomavirus (HPV) to reduce the risk of cervical, vaginal, anal, penile, and head/neck cancers

About Cancer Screening

Screening involves checking for cancer or pre-cancerous conditions at early stages when treatment is more effective. Screening methods vary for different cancers and may include visual exams, laboratory tests, or special procedures. Screening tests for cancers of the colon-rectum, female breast, and cervix may detect tumors early enough to remove them completely and prevent cancer progression. There are currently recommended cancer screening tests for breast, cervix, colon, rectum for people of average risk. Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are or were once heavy smokers. Screening tests for cancers of the prostate, ovary and pancreas are still being assessed for effectiveness; people with family histories of these diseases should discuss them with their primary healthcare professional. Screenings for cancers in other sites for people of average risk are currently not recommended for asymptomatic individuals. Learn more about cancer screening tests.

What we are doing to help promote screening

The Rhode Island Department of Health covers the cost of breast and cervical cancer screening for program-eligible patients through our Women's Cancer Screening Program, and provides resources, training, and guidance to partner health systems throughout the state with the Colorectal Cancer Prevention Program.

The Partnership to Reduce Cancer in Rhode Island convenes the Rhode Island Lung Cancer Screening Task Force, a multidisciplinary group of professionals working to improve the state’s lung cancer screening rates. Learn about lung cancer screening in Rhode Island at their ScreenRI page.

RIDOH and its partners conduct a series of Skin Check skin cancer screenings each year. For more information, visit the Partnership to Reduce Cancer in Rhode Island during the summer months.