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 1-125, Handbooks 1-17, updated 29 November 2019 Human immunodeficiency virus type 1
Agents classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) (in red) Eye Ultraviolet-emitting tanning devices
Welding
Brain and central X-radiation, gamma-radiation
Lung Aluminium production
nervous system Absence of excess body
Arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds
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)
Pharynx (oro-, Alcoholic beverages paranasal sinus strong acids
Cadmium and cadmium compounds
hypo- and/or Betel quid with tobacco Leather dust
Oral cavity Alcoholic beverages Chromium (VI) compounds
NOS) Human papillomavirus type 16 Nickel compounds
Betel quid with tobacco Coal, indoor emissions from household combustion
Quitting smoking Radium-226 and its decay products
Betel quid without tobacco Coal gasification
Tobacco smoking Radium-228 and its decay products
Human papillomavirus type 16 Coal-tar pitch
Tobacco smoking
Quitting smoking Coke production
Wood dust
Smokeless tobacco Diesel engine exhausts
Tobacco smoking Nasopharynx Epstein–Barr virus Gamma-radiation
Formaldehyde Larynx Acid mists, strong inorganic Haematite mining (underground)
Tonsil Human papillomavirus type 16 Salted fish, Chinese-style Alcoholic beverages Iron and steel founding
Wood dust Asbestos (all forms) MOPP (vincristine-prednisone-nitrogen mustard-procarbazine mixture)
Quitting smoking Nickel compounds
Salivary gland X-radiation, gamma-radiation Tobacco smoking Outdoor air pollution
Outdoor air pollution, particulate matter in
Painter (occupational exposure as)
Pleura or peritoneum Asbestos (all forms) Plutonium
Thyroid Absence of excess body fatness
Radioiodines, including iodine-131 (mesothelioma) Erionite Quitting smoking
(exposure during childhood and adolescence) Painter (occupational Radon-222 and its decay products
exposure as) Rubber production industry
X-radiation, gamma-radiation
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 Physical activity
Oesophagus Acetaldehyde associated with consumption of X-radiation, gamma-radiation
Liver Absence of excess body fatness alcoholic beverages Urinary bladder Aluminium production
(hepatocellular Aflatoxins Alcoholic beverages 4-Aminobiphenyl
carcinoma) Alcoholic beverages Absence of excess body fatness (adenocarcinoma) Kidney Absence of excess body fatness Arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds
Estrogen–progestogen contraceptives Betel quid with tobacco Quitting smoking Auramine production
Hepatitis B virus Betel quid without tobacco Tobacco smoking Benzidine
Hepatitis C virus Quitting smoking (squamous cell carcinoma) Trichloroethylene Chlornaphazine
Plutonium Smokeless tobacco X-radiation, gamma-radiation Cyclophosphamide
Thorium-232 and its decay products Tobacco smoking Magenta production
Tobacco smoking (in smokers and in X-radiation, gamma-radiation 2-Naphthylamine
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
Phenacetin, analgesic mixtures Schistosoma haematobium
Colon and rectum Alcoholic beverages Tobacco smoking
Biliary tract 1,2-Dichloropropane Absence of excess body fatness containing
Clonorchis sinensis Tobacco smoking ortho-Toluidine
Physical activity X-radiation, gamma-radiation
Opisthorchis viverrini Processed meat (consumption of)
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- Endothelium
Soot Human immunodeficiency virus type 1
pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) (Kaposi
X-radiation, gamma-radiation Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus
Ultraviolet radiation sarcoma)