Oncologist urges simple prevention steps before it's too late
Oncologist Dr. Avishek Kumar says patients often ask whether they could have done something to prevent their cancer, but by diagnosis it is already too late to change course. He argues the odds can be improved beforehand, with quitting smoking topping his list of recommended steps.
Oncologist Dr. Avishek Kumar says most of his workplace conversations happen only after test results have already revealed cancer, when the discussion turns to what comes next following a diagnosis. Patients and the family members who bring them in often ask the same question: could something have been done differently to prevent this.
According to the doctor, this question is difficult to answer inside his office, since by that point nothing can be changed. He believes a far better moment to ask it is while a person still feels completely healthy.
No miracle cure
Dr. Kumar acknowledges that age, genetics and simple bad luck all play a role in cancer, and that no miracle remedy or trendy diet, such as a green smoothie, can single-handedly protect someone from the disease. Still, he says certain everyday choices can genuinely improve a person's odds.
Drawing on his years of experience as an oncologist, he has named several simple things he wishes everyone would do before it is too late. Quitting smoking sits at the top of that list, which he describes as one of the strongest preventive steps a person can take.
The doctor encourages people not to postpone such decisions until there is no longer a choice left to make — that is, until they are sitting across from him with a confirmed diagnosis.
