So, how can you give yourself the best chance of avoiding them all?
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"Giving up smoking is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family," Dr Paul Zollinger-Read from Bupa tells HuffPost UK Lifestyle. “It’s not just lung cancer that tobacco can cause - it can also cause larynx, oesophagus, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach and cervical cancer."
Maintaining a healthy weight is also key to preventing cancer. Eating a balanced diet with starchy foods (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes), fruit and veg, dairy, protein, and some foods high in fat and sugar will keep your body at its strongest.
Dr Nitin Shori, Medical Director of the Pharmacy2U online doctor service, says we should not focus too heavily on reports that claim certain foods affect your risk of cancer.
"The difficulty is that the advice from these studies can vary wildly almost from day to day, often leaving people confused," she says.
Upping your exercise is another way to improve and protect your health - there’s evidence that exercising daily may reduce the risk of colon cancer by about 30% and breast cancer by about 20%.
“Aim to do 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise over a week. You can break this down in to more manageable chunks. Try 30 minutes a day or even three lots of 10-minute bursts a day," advises Dr Zollinger-Read.
Both doctors say that alcohol can affect your risk of cancer. Although you don't need to cut out alcohol completely, when you drink excessively or smoke and drink at the same time your risk of cancers that affect the mouth, throat and oesophagus significantly increases.
The NHS recommend women drink no more than 2-3 units of alcohol per day (the equivalent of one 175ml glass of wine) and men drink no more than 3-4 units per day (just over of a pint of strong lager, beer or cider).
"Be sensible and drink within safe limits," says Dr Zollinger-Read.
Unfortunately there's no way to guarantee you will never get cancer, as Dr Shori notes, cancer be be caused by a combination of factors, including "lifestyle, genetics and luck."
Although we can't take control of all of these factors, developing healthy habits we gives our bodies the best possible chance of avoiding cancer.
Lifestyle Risk Factors For Cancer
Smoking(01 of11)
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It's no surprise smoking is the number one thing to avoid in order to prevent cancer. It's responsible for 30 per cent of all cancer deaths, and smoking can increase the risk of lung cancer, for example, by nine times. (credit:Hemera Technologies via Getty Images)
Secondhand Smoke(02 of11)
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Even if you don't smoke, you can be affected by those around you. People who are near smoking are 1.4 times more likely to get lung cancer than others. (credit:CMSP via Getty Images)
Excess Body Weight(03 of11)
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Not having a healthy body weight (defined generally as a BMI of lower than 25) can increase your risk for a variety of cancers, including esophageal, uterine, liver, kidney, pancreatic, breast and colorectal cancer. (credit:bowie15 via Getty Images)
How You Eat(04 of11)
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It's a big yes for veggies and fruit, as well as fibre, but red and processed meat is what you want to avoid. While eating lots of fibre, for example, can help reduce colorectal cancer risk, eating the meats can increase it. (credit:Maximilian Stock Ltd. via Getty Images)
Drinking(05 of11)
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Drinking any type of alcohol — at all — increases your risk for head/neck, esophageal, colorectal, breast and liver cancer (and potentially pancreatic too). You can decrease the risk by keeping your alcohol use confined to one drink a day for women, and two for men. (credit:Roy Mehta via Getty Images)
Physical Activity(06 of11)
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Getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day is what you should be aiming for. Otherwise, you're at risk for colorectal cancer and could be setting yourself up for lung, uterine and breast cancer. (credit:Brent Winebrenner via Getty Images)
How Much You Sit(07 of11)
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We've heard about many ways in which sitting is bad for your health, but this could be the scariest one. Sitting too much (which is different from having physical activity) can increase your risk for colorectal, uterine, ovarian and prostate cancer. (credit:Science Photo Library via Getty Images)
UV Radiation(08 of11)
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Any type of tanning increases your risk for skin cancer — up to 64 per cent more for squamous cell carcinoma. (credit:Bruce Yuanyue Bi via Getty Images)
Viruses(09 of11)
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Hepatitis B and HPV both increase the risk for cancer, but there are vaccines that can help prevent them. (credit:Martin Botvidsson via Getty Images)
Radon(10 of11)
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The presence of radon gas is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer — test your home to see if it's there. (credit:Zirafek via Getty Images)
Hormones(11 of11)
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This one is a double-edged sword. For women taking HRT post-menopause, it can increase the risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer, but may help decrease the risk for colorectal cancer. Birth control pills, meanwhile, have been associated with an increased risk for breast, cervical and liver cancer, but a decreased risk for uterine and ovarian cancer. If you're concerned, talk to your doctor about options. (credit:Stephan Zabel via Getty Images)