Human Cancer: Known Causes and Prevention by Organ Site

IARC Monographs on the Identification of Carcinogenic Hazards to Humans and Handbooks of Cancer Prevention

Monographs 1-127, Handbooks 1-17, updated 10 October 2020 Human immunodeficiency virus type 1
Lung Aluminium production
Agents classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) (in red) Eye Ultraviolet-emitting tanning devices
Welding
Brain and central X-radiation, gamma-radiation
Arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds
nervous system Absence of excess body
Interventions with sufficient evidence of a cancer-preventive effect (in green) fatness (meningioma) Asbestos (all forms)
Beryllium and beryllium compounds
Bis(chloromethyl)ether; chloromethyl methyl ether
Nasal cavity and Isopropyl alcohol manufacture using (technical grade)
paranasal sinus strong acids Cadmium and cadmium compounds
Pharynx (oro-, Alcoholic beverages Chromium (VI) compounds
hypo- and/or Betel quid with tobacco Leather dust
Oral cavity Alcoholic beverages Coal, indoor emissions from household combustion
NOS) Human papillomavirus type 16 Nickel compounds
Betel quid with tobacco Coal gasification
Quitting smoking Radium-226 and its decay products
Betel quid without tobacco Coal-tar pitch
Tobacco smoking Radium-228 and its decay products
Human papillomavirus type 16 Coke production
Tobacco smoking
Quitting smoking Diesel engine exhausts
Wood dust
Smokeless tobacco Gamma-radiation
Tobacco smoking Nasopharynx Epstein–Barr virus Haematite mining (underground)
Formaldehyde Larynx Acid mists, strong inorganic Iron and steel founding
Tonsil Human papillomavirus type 16 Salted fish, Chinese-style Alcoholic beverages MOPP (vincristine-prednisone-nitrogen mustard-procarbazine mixture)
Wood dust Asbestos (all forms) Nickel compounds
Opium (consumption of) Opium (consumption of)
Salivary gland X-radiation, gamma-radiation Quitting smoking Outdoor air pollution
Tobacco smoking Outdoor air pollution, particulate matter in
Painter (occupational exposure as)
Thyroid Absence of excess body fatness Pleura or peritoneum Asbestos (all forms) Plutonium
Radioiodines, including iodine-131 (mesothelioma) Erionite Quitting smoking
(exposure during childhood and adolescence) Painter (occupational Radon-222 and its decay products
X-radiation, gamma-radiation exposure as) Rubber production industry
Silica dust, crystalline
Breast Alcoholic beverages Soot
Stomach Absence of excess body fatness Sulfur mustard
Absence of excess body fatness
(gastric cardia) Tobacco smoke, secondhand
(postmenopausal)
Helicobacter pylori Tobacco smoking
Diethylstilbestrol Welding fumes
Quitting smoking
Estrogen–progestogen contraceptives X-radiation
Rubber production industry
Tobacco smoking Estrogen–progestogen menopausal
X-radiation, gamma-radiation therapy
Mammography screening (50–74 years)
Upper aerodigestive tract Acetaldehyde associated with consumption of
alcoholic beverages Regular physical activity
Oesophagus Acetaldehyde associated with consumption of X-radiation, gamma-radiation Urinary bladder Aluminium production
Liver Absence of excess body fatness alcoholic beverages
4-Aminobiphenyl
(hepatocellular Aflatoxins Alcoholic beverages
Arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds
carcinoma) Alcoholic beverages Absence of excess body fatness (adenocarcinoma) Kidney Absence of excess body fatness Auramine production
Estrogen–progestogen contraceptives Betel quid with tobacco Quitting smoking Benzidine
Hepatitis B virus Betel quid without tobacco Tobacco smoking Chlornaphazine
Hepatitis C virus Quitting smoking (squamous cell carcinoma) Trichloroethylene Cyclophosphamide
Plutonium Smokeless tobacco X-radiation, gamma-radiation Magenta production
Thorium-232 and its decay products Tobacco smoking
2-Naphthylamine
Tobacco smoking (in smokers and in X-radiation, gamma-radiation
Opium (consumption of)
smokers’ children) Renal pelvis Aristolochic acid, Painter (occupational exposure as)
Gall bladder Absence of excess body fatness and ureter plants containing Quitting smoking
Liver (angiosarcoma) Vinyl chloride Thorium-232 and its decay products Phenacetin Rubber production industry
Colon and rectum Alcoholic beverages Phenacetin, analgesic mixtures Schistosoma haematobium
Biliary tract 1,2-Dichloropropane Absence of excess body fatness containing Tobacco smoking
Clonorchis sinensis Regular physical activity Tobacco smoking ortho-Toluidine
Opisthorchis viverrini Processed meat (consumption of) X-radiation, gamma-radiation
Screening with gFOBT
Pancreas Absence of excess body fatness Screening with FIT
Quitting smoking Screening with sigmoidoscopy
Smokeless tobacco Screening with colonoscopy Leukaemia/ Absence of excess body
Tobacco smoking Tobacco smoking lymphoma fatness (multiple myeloma)
X-radiation, gamma-radiation Azathioprine
Bone Plutonium Benzene
Anus Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Radium-224 and its decay products Busulfan
Human papillomavirus type 16 Radium-226 and its decay products 1,3-Butadiene
Radium-228 and its decay products Chlorambucil
X-radiation, gamma-radiation Cyclophosphamide
Cyclosporine
Corpus uteri Absence of excess body fatness Epstein–Barr virus
(endometrium) Estrogen menopausal therapy Etoposide with cisplatin and bleomycin
Estrogen–progestogen menopausal therapy Penis Human papillomavirus type 16 Fission products, including strontium-90
Tamoxifen Formaldehyde
Helicobacter pylori
Multiple sites Cyclosporine Hepatitis C virus
Uterine cervix Conventional cytology screening (35–64 years) Vagina Diethylstilbestrol (exposure in utero) (unspecified) Fission products, including strontium-90 Human immunodeficiency virus type 1
Diethylstilbestrol (exposure in utero) Human papillomavirus type 16 X-radiation, gamma-radiation (exposure in Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1
Estrogen–progestogen contraceptives utero) Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus
Human papillomavirus testing Vulva Human papillomavirus type 16 Lindane
All cancers 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Melphalan
combined para-dioxin
Human papillomavirus types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, Ovary Absence of excess body fatness MOPP (vincristine-prednisone-nitrogen
51, 52, 56, 58, 59 Asbestos (all forms) mustard-procarbazine mixture)
Quitting smoking Estrogen menopausal therapy Group 1 agents 2,3,4,7,8-Pentachlorodibenzofuran Skin Polychlorinated biphenyls Pentachlorophenol
Tobacco smoking Tobacco smoking with less than Polychlorinated biphenyls with a WHO TEF (“dioxin-like”) (melanoma) Solar radiation Phosphorus-32, as phosphate
sufficient evidence 4,4′-Methylenebis(2-chloroaniline) (MOCA) Ultraviolet-emitting tanning devices Rubber production industry
in humans Alpha- and beta-particle emitters Semustine [1-(2-Chloroethyl)-3-(4-
Areca nut Skin (other Arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds methylcyclohexyl)-1-nitrosourea, or
Aristolochic acid malignant Azathioprine methyl-CCNU]
Benzidine, dyes metabolized to neoplasms) Coal-tar distillation Thiotepa
Benzo[a]pyrene Coal-tar pitch Thorium-232 and its decay products
Ethanol in alcoholic beverages Cyclosporine Tobacco smoking
Ethylene oxide Methoxsalen plus ultraviolet A Treosulfan
Etoposide Mineral oils, untreated or mildly treated X-radiation, gamma-radiation
Ionizing radiation (all types) Shale oils
Neutron radiation Solar radiation
N′-Nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and 4-(N-nitroso-methylamino)-1-(3- Soot Endothelium
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1
pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) (Kaposi
X-radiation, gamma-radiation Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus
Ultraviolet radiation sarcoma)