• Hikmat Abdel-Razeq, Rayan Bater, Khawlah Ammar, Rana Al-Damsees, and Saif Aldeen AlRyalat.
• Department of Internal Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, Jordan. habdelrazeq@khcc.jo.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2023 Jun 1; 192 (3): 102710311027-1031.

BackgroundIt is known that targeting cancer-related modifiable risk factors is the best way to fight cancer. Behavioral and lifestyle changes can significantly reduce the burden of cancer.AimsWe aim to assess the impact of having a relative/friend with cancer on the number of cancer-related modifiable risk factors a participant might have.MethodsA survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted at King Hussein Cancer Center from June 2020 until July 2020. The survey was distributed via social media platforms, where we targeted adults who have never been diagnosed with cancer. We asked about modifiable cancer-related risk factors and compared between participants with and without relatives or friends with cancer.ResultsA total of 1486 participants were considered for analysis, with a mean age of 30.62 (SD 11.19) years. Participants who had a relative with cancer had a mean of 0.31 (p = 0.007; 95% CI: 0.08-0.54) fewer risk factors, with smoking and extra sun exposure were significantly lower among participants with a cancer relative. No significant difference in modifiable risk factors was found between participants with a friend who have cancer and those who do not (p = 0.193).ConclusionPeople who have relatives with cancer had less modifiable risk factors, which might reflect on their willingness to modify their cancer-related risk factors.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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