Setting an Anti-Cancer Stage

Illustration © D. Yael Bernhard

In my last article, I compared the nutrients we eat to a cast of characters in a play. Each fulfills a vital role in the theater of your health, both in your daily dramas and the epic of your lifespan. Now let’s focus on the stage – for the setting we create determines the play that unfolds there. The stage set comes first, with its scenery and props, and must support the production that takes place. Extending this theatrical metaphor to your health, this means creating conditions that are capable of producing the outcome you want. It also means avoiding the outcomes you don’t want. By setting the stage to serve your longterm health goals, you can modify your risks significantly. How can we enable the best possible scenario to play out – complete with a happy ending?

Such endings do not include cancer. All too often, cancer turns an upbeat play into a horror show, as the plot suddens turns and spins out of control. The diagnosis may come as a shock, but the cancer has been silently growing beneath the surface for months, years, or even decades. Nobody wants this narrative.

Cancer is only one among many chronic diseases that plague our society – as much as 2/3 of our population suffers from at least one such condition. Chronic disease by its nature is a long-term development, largely arising from environmental influences, both internal and external. This includes our surroundings, lifestyle, and diet – the stage set we design and construct. Whether we float along in the current of our culture or consciously create our own phenotype, this will greatly determine our future metabolic health. Phenotype is defined as the “constitution of a living organism resulting from the interaction of its genome and its environment.” The study of this interaction is known as genomics; and the study of genomics in nutrition is nutrigenomics.

Nutrigenomics posits that individual gene expression is not only influenced but to a large degree determined by nutrition. This is a young field of science, but the data is growing. Epigenetic influences – factors that affect our gene expression – are now known to have a significant effect on health outcomes.¹ Like the fixed keys on a piano, we’re stuck with our inherited genes; but like the hands that play music on that keyboard, we determine how our genes express themselves. Epigenetic influences include nutrition; stress and relaxation; quality of sleep; exercise and movement; spiritual well-being; relationships and community; connection to nature; and sense of purpose. All are essential, but nutrition stands out as the biggest piece of the pie, since the food we eat constitutes the physical substance of our bodies. Healthy gene expression is what functional nutrition is all about.

Epi means “over” or “above,” and the epigenetic perspective represents a shift of paradigm, away from the outdated view that diseases are genetic and therefore a function of luck. Nowhere is this ideology more entrenched than in the cancer narrative. Medical intake forms ask us to identify family members who have suffered the dreaded disease, as if this were the single biggest measure of risk. In the case of certain cancers this is certainly more true – when a person inherits a gene with a mutation that increases their risk of developing cancer, it's considered a hereditary cancer. But the vast majority of cancers are “sporadic,” meaning they develop due to changes that occur in an individual’s DNA during their lifetime. According to current research, only 5-10% of all cancer cases have a strong genetic (hereditary) component.²

The rest is diet and lifestyle, folks. That’s both good news and bad news – it means we hold the power, but it’s up to us to use it wisely. Like it or not, the stage we set will determine how our genes express themselves. This article offers a blueprint for setting an anticancer stage, and for gathering the raw materials to do so.

Never has the need been greater. In the United States and Europe, cancer is the second leading cause of death, and in Canada it’s the first.³ Estimates for this year predict over 2 million new cancer cases in the U.S.,⁴ with rates rising most rapidly among young people. Global forecasts project this number will climb even higher, to 35 million by 2050, with a 77% increase over the past three years alone.⁵

Along with this increase, the business of cancer has grown exponentially. According to ChatGPT, the U.S. oncology market (yes, there is such a term), including cancer treatments and diagnostics, was valued at around $145 billion in 2024. This is projected to grow to approximately $417 billion by 2034. Almost everyone knows someone who has undergone cancer treatment, and someone who works in the cancer industry. It’s a vital piece of our economy, with an eye toward profit more than prevention.

Early detection is not prevention. Most individuals who are at risk are simply told to retest at scheduled intervals, with little or no guidance on how to change the trajectory. For many Americans, the concept of preventing cancer is all but unknown. Either you get lucky, or you don’t. Yet from a nutrigenomic perspective, the line blurs between prevention and cure. It’s all about creating an environment where cancer cannot thrive. You can help regulate your immune system to nip incipient cancer growth in the bud and raise your level of resilience – even if you’re a former smoker or a cancer survivor. Many of these resources are right at your fingertips. Let’s take a look.