People who get cancer want to know how they got it. Most know that their risk for cancer goes up with age and certain lifestyle choices, such as smoking or weight gain. But genetics also plays a role. “We do have genes in the population that do cause cancer. Those are things we can’t really change. What we can change is picking it up earlier,” says Dr. Anthony Elias of The University of Colorado Cancer Center on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

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