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Cancer

How much each habit raises, or lowers, the odds of dying of cancer, all sites together. Tap a pill, answer yours. Green pills lower the risk, red raise it; a star marks an estimate, not a published number. All causes ›

Habits that change cancer death risk

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Habits that change cancer death risk

25%0%25%50%75%100%← more risk · % change in risk · less risk →Factors, ranked by biggest effect147%#152%#29%31%#325%#421%#517%#6Everythingelseno single number

Scroll sideways to see every factor →

Tap a pill to answer yours.

Where you sit

0 of 6 answered

Answer the 6 factors above to see which ones raise your own risk, which sit at the reference, and which the studies have no number for.

Relative risk versus each factor’s reference group; above the line is lower risk, below it higher.

Sources (11)Vallée A, Eur J Public Health 2025 · Jin et al., Ann Oncol 2013 · Chikritzhs et al., Addiction 2015 and 8 moreShow all
  1. [1]A. Vallée. Associations between tobacco smoking and mortality: a sex-stratified cohort analysis. Eur J Public Health, 35(6):1212-1218, 2025. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckaf194 Evidence: Low
  2. [2]E. E. Calle et al. Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults. N Engl J Med, 348(17):1625-38, 2003. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa021423 Evidence: Low
  3. [3]T. Chikritzhs et al. Has the leaning tower of presumed health benefits from 'moderate' alcohol use finally collapsed?. Addiction, 110(5):726-7, 2015. doi:10.1111/add.12828 Evidence: Not graded (review)
  4. [4]T. Stockwell et al. Do "Moderate" Drinkers Have Reduced Mortality Risk? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and All-Cause Mortality. J Stud Alcohol Drugs, 77(2):185-98, 2016. doi:10.15288/jsad.2016.77.185 Evidence: High
  5. [5]V. Bagnardi et al. Alcohol consumption and site-specific cancer risk: a comprehensive dose-response meta-analysis. Br J Cancer, 112(3):580-93, 2015. doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.579 Evidence: High
  6. [6]M. Jin et al. Alcohol drinking and all cancer mortality: a meta-analysis. Ann Oncol, 24(3):807-16, 2013. doi:10.1093/annonc/mds508 Evidence: High
  7. [7]S. Rao Kondapally Seshasai et al. Diabetes mellitus, fasting glucose, and risk of cause-specific death. N Engl J Med, 364(9):829-841, 2011. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1008862 Evidence: High
  8. [8]P. M. Rothwell et al. Effect of daily aspirin on long-term risk of death due to cancer: analysis of individual patient data from randomised trials. Lancet, 377(9759):31-41, 2011. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62110-1 Evidence: High
  9. [9]T. Li et al. The dose-response effect of physical activity on cancer mortality: findings from 71 prospective cohort studies. Br J Sports Med, 50(6):339-45, 2016. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015-094927 Evidence: High
  10. [10]D. Aune et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. Int J Epidemiol, 46(3):1029-1056, 2017. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319 Evidence: High
  11. [11]H. Rumgay et al. Global burden of cancer in 2020 attributable to alcohol consumption: a population-based study. Lancet Oncol, 22(8):1071-1080, 2021. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00279-5 Evidence: Moderate

Every factor, one by one

One quick question each. The charts above follow your answers, and so does every other What Matters page that asks the same question.

  1. #1Smoking[1]+147%

    In 333,559 UK Biobank adults aged 40 to 69 followed for 12 years, current smokers died of cancer at 2.5 times the rate of never smokers, men and women alike, and past smokers at 1.3 times, after adjusting for age, education, income, drinking, weight, activity and existing disease.

    Do you smoke?

    reference
    +30%
    +147%
    +147%

    Same number, 2 answers: The cohort does report cancer-mortality hazard ratios by cigarettes a day; this page uses the one overall current-smoker figure instead of that gradient, so light and heavy smoking share it here.

    Not answered yet. Tap an option to save your answer. Saved to your quiz answers, so the quiz shows it too.

  2. #2Body weight[2]+52%

    In 900,000 US adults followed 16 years, the heaviest (BMI 40 and over) died of cancer at 1.5 times the rate of normal-weight men and 1.6 times the rate of normal-weight women; the authors put a seventh of cancer deaths in men and a fifth in women down to excess weight.

    How would you describe your weight?

    +52%
    ≈+26%
    ≈+13%
    reference
    ≈+8%

    Not answered yet. Tap an option to save your answer. Saved to your quiz answers, so the quiz shows it too.

  3. #3Alcohol[3, 4, 5, 6]+31%

    Pooling 18 cohort studies, light drinkers (up to about a drink a day) died of cancer, any site, 9% less often than non/occasional drinkers, moderate drinkers (up to about four a day) came out about even, and heavy drinkers (over about four a day) died 31% more often; the J shape held for men, not clearly for women.

    How much alcohol do you drink?

    reference
    −9%
    +2%
    +31%

    Not answered yet. Tap an option to save your answer. Saved to your quiz answers, so the quiz shows it too.

  4. #4Diabetes[7]+25%

    Across 97 studies and 820,900 people, diabetes went with 25% more cancer deaths after adjusting for age, sex, smoking and weight; liver, pancreas, colon and breast carry most of it.

    What’s your blood sugar like?

    reference
    ≈+8%
    +25%
    +25%
    no number

    Same number, 2 answers: The collaboration compared diabetes with no diabetes; it did not split by how well it was controlled.

    Not answered yet. Tap an option to save your answer. Saved to your quiz answers, so the quiz shows it too.

  5. #5Regular aspirin or NSAID use[8]−21%

    Pooling individual patient data from 8 randomised trials of 25,570 people (originally run for heart disease prevention, not cancer), those allocated to daily aspirin died of cancer, any site, 21% less often than those on placebo during the trials, and the gap widened the longer they had been on it.

    Do you take aspirin or another NSAID (ibuprofen, naproxen) most days, for a year or more?

    reference
    −21%
    no number

    Not answered yet. Tap an option to save your answer. This answer does not change your life estimate.

  6. #6Physical inactivity[9]−17%

    Across 71 cohorts, the most active people died of cancer 17% less often than the least active, and 2.5 hours a week of moderate activity was enough for a 13% reduction.

    How many days a week do you get 30+ minutes of exercise?

    reference
    ≈−7%
    −13%
    −17%

    Not answered yet. Tap an option to save your answer. Saved to your quiz answers, so the quiz shows it too.

Cancer, site by site

Share of cancer deaths by site, SEER/NCHS (National Cancer Institute SEER Program, National Cancer Institute Evidence: Not graded (statistics)). Most sites have their own pills chart now — tap one — the smallest are still listed with their share alone.

Prevention, site by site

Habits the chart above skips because they only move one or two sites: screening, sun exposure, hepatitis and the rest. Answer one on its own page and it carries over everywhere else that asks it.

Read more

Colon health deep dive ›Smoking deep dive ›Gut & screening quiz ›