Cancer in Children

A risk factor is anything that affects the chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors.

Lifestyle-related risk factors play a major role in many types of cancer in adults. Examples include being overweight, eating an unhealthy diet, not getting enough exercise, and habits like smoking and drinking alcohol. 

A risk factor is anything that affects the chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors.

Lifestyle-related risk factors play a major role in many types of cancer in adults. Examples include being overweight, eating an unhealthy diet, not getting enough exercise, and habits like smoking and drinking alcohol. ‘

But lifestyle factors usually take many years to influence cancer risk, and they are not thought to play much of a role in childhood cancers.

A few environmental factors, such as radiation exposure, have been linked with some types of childhood cancers.

Some studies have also suggested that some parental exposures (such as smoking) might increase a child’s risk of certain cancers, but more studies are needed to explore these possible links. So far, most childhood cancers have not been shown to have outside causes.