Can leukemia be prevented?
For many types of cancer, certain things make you more likely to get it. These are known as risk factors. So changing your lifestyle to avoid those risks can decrease your chance of getting the disease. But most people with leukemia have no known risk factors. There is no absolute way to prevent leukemia. Smoking has been associated with an increased risk of developing leukemia. For instance, about 20% of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cases are related to smoking. So stopping smoking may lower your risk of developing leukemia. Quitting smoking also decreases the risks of getting lung, head, neck, esophagus, stomach, and bladder cancers.
