Questions tagged [cancer]

Blanket term for a class of diseases in which cells lose the function called apoptosis" and continue to grow uncontrolled. Can also refer to the study of this uncontrolled growth, as well as its invasion and/or destruction of other tissues which is known as metastasis. The term "cancer" covers hundreds of different conditions.

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Has the cure to cancer been hidden by pharmaceutical companies?

I've heard a theory that given the widespread incidence of cancer, a cancer cure probably already exists but has been hidden by major pharmaceutical companies to maximise revenue from expensive cancer ...
Huey's user avatar
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89 votes
2 answers
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Is eating processed meat as bad as smoking for causing cancer?

I recently saw this posted on social media; it caused quite a stir, with over 200 comments from people debating the veracity of the claims. “It’s funny how people get outraged at parents putting ...
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6 answers
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Do mobile phones have anything to do with brain cancer?

Is there evidence for a correlation between the use of mobile phones and the occurence of brain cancer? If yes, is there also evidence for causality?
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65 votes
1 answer
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If smoking causes lung cancer, why has a decline in smoking not led to a decline in lung cancer?

According to the CDC, smoking prevalence among US adults (18+) has decreased quite a bit over the years: 1974: 37.1% of the population 1980: 33.2 1990: 25.5 2000: 23.3 2010: 19.3 According to cancer....
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58 votes
3 answers
8k views

Does burning your food increase your risk of getting cancer?

About a year ago I heard that burning your food can lead to an increased risk of getting cancer. The explanation was that the burned portion of the food was carcinogenic. The Carbon that would be ...
jon_brockman's user avatar
57 votes
1 answer
11k views

Do hot peppers kill cancer?

While browsing Health.SE, I came across an answer that makes the following claim: A 2007 study by Nottingham University2 found that spicy foods can help kill cancer cells. Capsaicin, which is what ...
Mithical's user avatar
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51 votes
2 answers
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Is there reliable evidence that depleted uranium from the 1999 NATO bombing is causing cancer in Serbia?

This year is the 20th anniversary of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia/Serbia. At the moment, Serbian media outlets are focused on claims that depleted uranium in NATO bombs used during the bombardment ...
kozina-adjacent's user avatar
50 votes
3 answers
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Does regularly drinking from a plastic container cause cancer?

I drink water from my plastic cup regularly and a friend commented that it could cause cancer. He also added that I should not heat food in plastic containers or wrappings in the microwave as that ...
EuropaDust's user avatar
50 votes
5 answers
6k views

Does the artificial sweetener aspartame cause cancer?

I've often heard that the artificial sweetener aspartame causes cancer. Is it true?
anansias's user avatar
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45 votes
3 answers
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Do 80 to 90 percent of lifelong smokers never develop lung cancer?

Joshua Hawkins of BGR.com has stated that 80 to 90 percent of lifelong smokers never develop lung cancer. To quote the article: Scientists may have discovered why lifelong smokers never get lung ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
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33 votes
1 answer
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Do THC or other cannabis compounds cure/slow cancer?

I see this popping up on my Facebook feed quite a lot (to be fair, it's usually the same 3 people): Claims that evidence has shown that marijuana/cannabis/THC/other cannabinoids can have a positive ...
Damon's user avatar
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32 votes
7 answers
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Is cancer a man-made disease?

Not too long ago a story about a study examining mummies for the prevalence of cancer caused a flurry of articles in the media claiming that cancer is a man-made disease. The researchers claim that ...
Mad Scientist's user avatar
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32 votes
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Was Eddie Van Halen's tongue cancer caused by metal guitar picks?

Eddie Van Halen was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2000. He attributed the cancer to his habit of holding metal guitar picks, made from brass and copper, in his mouth. He was declared cancer-free in ...
ewanc's user avatar
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32 votes
1 answer
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Can oral sex cause throat cancer?

(somebody had to ask this) Micheal Douglas, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2010, said in a recent interview with the Guardian: Asked whether he now regretted his years of smoking and ...
matt_black's user avatar
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29 votes
1 answer
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Are cancer recovery rates the same as they were in 1920?

Related: Have any “cures” been invented since the 1950's or so? I ran across the movie Cut Poison Burn, who's abstract is as follows: Cut Poison Burn is a controversial, eye opening, and sometimes ...
Hendy's user avatar
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27 votes
1 answer
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Does Frankincense cure cancer?

I saw this implausible claim today: Even scientists now recognize the power agents that exist within some essential oils which stops cancer spreading, and which induces cancerous cells to close ...
Rob Watts's user avatar
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26 votes
3 answers
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Does eating meat increase your risk for cancer?

I just read an article in the german magazine "Der Spiegel" about a recent study claiming that 40% of all cancers are preventable. The article states specifically that one of the factors is the ...
Mad Scientist's user avatar
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25 votes
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Does Burzynski have a miracle cancer cure being suppressed by the FDA?

I received this Mercola announcement for the movie, Burzynski about Stanislaw Burzynski's (allegedly) amazing cure for cancer, which uses antineoplastons. The Mercola article claims some fairly hefty ...
Hendy's user avatar
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22 votes
3 answers
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Lung cancer due to inhaling oily steam in the restaurant kitchen for a long period of time

There is a rumour which states that chefs increase their likelihood of developing lung cancer if they work for long periods of time in the kitchen with oily steam. Does anybody here have such ...
Display Name's user avatar
22 votes
3 answers
2k views

Do abortions cause breast cancer?

Conservapedia's sub-article on Abortion and Breast Cancer claims that there is an undeniable link between breast cancer and abortions: The vast majority of scientific studies have shown that ...
Mark Rogers's user avatar
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22 votes
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Does getting a flu shot every year help prevent cancer?

Marketwatch's story "10 surprising steps to staying cancer-free" states that getting an flu shot every year help prevent cancer: Get an annual flu shot. Having the flu triggers inflammation, which ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
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Do cellphone towers cause health issues?

Yesterday I got a request to install a cellphone tower on my building. The company is going to pay me fair amount but I heard that cell tower radiations cause some serious health issues. Are they safe?...
user2551549's user avatar
21 votes
3 answers
5k views

Does second hand smoke cause cancer?

Related: Does smoking cigarettes cause lung cancer? A friend of mine related today, as shocked as I was to hear it, that he heard that every single study that had ever been conducted on second hand ...
Hendy's user avatar
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21 votes
2 answers
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Does chemotherapy make cancer worse?

Several sources, among them Huffington Post and Daily Mail claim a recent study showed that chemotherapy, which is used as a cancer cure, actually makes cancer worse. Chemotherapy can backfire by ...
Konrad Rudolph's user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
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Does screening for prostate cancer save lives?

The Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Test is used by doctors in many regions of the world to test for prostate cancer and other prostate disorders. Some people recommend its use for screening - i.e. ...
matt_black's user avatar
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21 votes
2 answers
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Does smoking one joint give as much exposure to cancer-producing chemicals as smoking four to five cigarettes?

I was linked to a website from Parenting Stack Exchange called drugfreeworld. I then browsed around a bit, and I found this interesting line on the Marijuana page: Aside from the discomfort that ...
GrumpyCrouton's user avatar
20 votes
2 answers
7k views

Does smoking cigarettes cause lung cancer?

My friend is a smoker. His dad is a doctor. Both claim there is no firm proof that cigarettes cause lung cancer. This article makes a similar claim -- in particular that smoking cigarettes is not ...
samthebrand's user avatar
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20 votes
1 answer
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Is this new study on cell phone / cancer connection legitimate?

Insanely related: Do mobile phones have anything to do with cancer? I was just sent THIS article, which claims that a new study does show a link between brain cancer and cell phones: This new study ...
Hendy's user avatar
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19 votes
2 answers
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Does soursop cure cancer?

I was linked a website about the effect soursop has in fighting cancer. The website heavily implies that soursop is an effective cancer treatment similar to chemo. source Chemotherapy is a widely ...
Kit Sunde's user avatar
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19 votes
4 answers
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Does a high protein diet increase your risk for cancer?

The Daily Telegraph claimed that "High-protein diet 'as bad for health as smoking'": The risk is nearly as high as the danger of developing cancer by smoking 20 cigarettes each day. [...] ...
Kristoffer Nolgren's user avatar
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3 answers
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Are organic vegetables higher in carcinogens?

My common senses would have told me that organic vegetables are healthier and less harmful compared to vegetables treated with pesticides. A recent post on Quora made me think otherwise. Organic ...
Abhijit's user avatar
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19 votes
1 answer
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Does radon gas significantly increase one's chances of getting lung cancer?

When I was buying a house, one of the environmental checks that had to be done was the level of radon buildup in the building. It turns out the house that I bought has just below the recommended safe ...
Jez's user avatar
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19 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is Roundup weed killer carcinogenic?

Monsanto have been found liable for the terminal cancer of a former groundskeeper exposed to glyphosate and other chemicals in their Roundup herbicidal product. On Friday, a California jury hit ...
GordonM's user avatar
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18 votes
2 answers
669 views

Does taking a contraceptive pill increase your chance of getting cancer?

It is a common thing to hear among women discussing contraception, and in the press: A 45 per cent increase in the disease was found among women who had been taking the second generation Pill for ...
anansias's user avatar
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18 votes
2 answers
927 views

Can antioxidants prevent cancer?

Antioxidants are often touted as some kind of miracle cure for all kinds of illnesses. They are supposed to prevent damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) to the cells by scavenging those ROS ...
Mad Scientist's user avatar
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18 votes
1 answer
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Did nuclear tests on the Marshall Islands cause increased cancer rates?

The Marshall Island have been the site for many nuclear tests by the United States. While it has a small population of around 69,000, they have benefitted by receiving around $759 million dollars in ...
Brian M. Hunt's user avatar
17 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is routine screening for breast cancer for asymptomatic women worthwhile?

Relatively recently, the United States Preventive Services Task Force made a small change in what its recommendations for routine mammograms, suggesting that they should not be performed on asymptotic ...
matt_black's user avatar
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17 votes
1 answer
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Can pregnancy tests check for testicular cancer in men?

I saw this picture here: [ Is this true? Can cancer be detected by a pregnancy test?
ike's user avatar
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17 votes
3 answers
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Do organic cigarettes, such as American Spirit, contain less radioactive material than other brands?

Many cigarettes contain radioactive polonium from the use of phosphate/apatite fertilizers. The National Institutes of Health lists tobacco as by far the largest source of radiation for the American ...
endolith's user avatar
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16 votes
2 answers
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Did Steve Jobs fall prey to alternative medicine?

Dr. Ramzi Amri makes a stern case on the other Q/A site. Let me cut to the chase: Mr. Jobs allegedly chose to undergo all sorts of alternative treatment options before opting for conventional ...
Sklivvz's user avatar
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16 votes
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Can dogs detect human cancer?

I heard several times that dogs could detect cancer before it was detected by humans. Can Dogs Smell Cancer? There are many published studies that prove dogs can detect cancer through breath ...
Einenlum's user avatar
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16 votes
2 answers
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Can 'resonant frequencies' kill cancer cells?

According to some guy called Anthony Holland, you can kill cancer cells with resonant frequencies: "Cancer Research", Novobiotronics; "Shattering cancer with resonant frequencies: Anthony Holland at ...
Sebastiaan van den Broek's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
4k views

Does German New Medicine work?

German New Medicine is a medical treatment developed by Ryke Geerd Hamer. Hamer claims that the cause for every cancer is a "biological-conflict shock". The German New Medicine is a set of ...
Bart Calixto's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
2k views

Does alcohol cause cancer?

The latest Cancer Council of Australia claims that alcohol "probably caused about 5.6 per cent of cancers in Australia" and that there is no safe amount of alcohol to consume. http://www.smh.com.au/...
Samuelson's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is there an epidemic of cancer?

It is nearly 50 years since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published where she popularised a belief that we are all being poisoned by artificial chemicals. For the first time in the history of ...
matt_black's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does sugar "feed" cancer?

I keep seeing this claim in alternative health circles that sugar feeds cancer and if you restrict carbohydrate from your diet, particularly refined sugar, you can prevent cancer or even "starve" ...
Melissa's user avatar
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14 votes
0 answers
460 views

Are the majority of modern cancer drugs useless?

Cancer is one of those diseases that cause dread in its victims and their families. Though many are treatable or even curable, many others are not and there is great pressure on medics to offer any ...
matt_black's user avatar
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13 votes
3 answers
1k views

Are mitochondria "natural cancer fighting cells"?

The article Scientists cure cancer, but no one takes notice claims big pharma and the media are ignoring dichloroacetate because it's out of patent protection - but that question is answered at ...
Andrew Grimm's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is cancer linked to having an acidic body?

There a lot of differing views reports on pH levels and cancer. Some say that cancer only grows in acidic bodies. Some say that an alkaline body can prevent or cure cancer. Many others disagree ...
Coomie's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
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Do fingerprint scanners cause skin cancer?

Recently, my company started using fingerprint scanners to identify employees for access control and for attendance. Many employees have a concern about developing skin cancer from the IR fingerprint ...
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