This program is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most cancers take years to develop. Different causes, called risk factors, contribute to the development of cancer over time. They are links in a chain of events that can lead to cancer.

You can control many risk factors. For example, you can choose not to smoke and to get recommended cancer screening tests.

You can also help your kids live long, cancer-free lives. Getting both boys and girls vaccinated against HPV at age 11 or 12 can prevent almost all HPV-associated cancers. Making sure your kids protect their skin from the sun when playing outside will greatly lower their chance of getting skin cancer, which is the most common kind of cancer.

Communities can help people stay cancer-free too. Making public places smoke-free can help prevent many kinds of cancer, not just lung cancer. Providing shade and sunscreen at parks and pools helps families have fun outside without increasing their skin cancer risk.

For most people, cancer doesn’t have to be a part of growing older. Many common kinds of cancer can be prevented. Screening tests can find breast, cervical, and colon cancers early, when they’re easiest to treat.

Break one link in the chain and the odds of getting cancer go down.

What will you do to help create a world without cancer?

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/cancer.