Young and at Risk

New studies show that your age alone isn't an indicator of your cancer risk.

How much you weigh and how old you are have a major effect on cancer risk, according to new studies: In adults under 45, tonsil and tongue cancers seem to be rising, due in part to the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV vaccine may one day help prevent some of these cancers.

You can't change your age, but you can -- and should -- control your weight. Most people don't get screened for colon cancer until they're 50 (if at all), but the disease is on the rise in men younger than that. One likely reason: the obesity epidemic. Last November, authors of a major cancer report said that excess fat was linked to increased risk for six types, including colon cancer. The following month, another study found overweight and obese men with prostate cancer are nearly twice as likely to die as thinner patients. You know the drill: Diet and exercise to drop those deadly pounds.