The Cancer Equation

In partnership with

Issue #15: October 20, 2025

🧬 The Cancer Equation: What You Can Control

Almost one in two people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

That number stops me every time.

I don’t know a single person who hasn’t been touched by it — a parent, a friend, a coworker. I’ve seen it up close too, and it’s what pushed me to dig deeper into prevention. Earlier this year, I took both the Color hereditary cancer test and the Galleri early detection test out of curiosity and caution. It wasn’t fear, but a desire to understand what I could actually control.

Because here’s the truth: Our DNA hasn’t changed much in 200 years. Our environment has.

We’ve added decades to our lives but also layered on stress, processed food, poor sleep, and chemical exposures our biology never evolved for. We’ve built a world where cancer — once rare simply because people didn’t live long enough — now has every opportunity to thrive.

This isn’t about fear. It’s about leverage. You can’t rewrite your genes, but you can shape the terrain they live in. And that’s where real power lies.

⚙️ Genes Load the Gun. Lifestyle Pulls the Trigger

Only about 5-10% of cancers come from inherited mutations. The rest stem from epigenetics — how lifestyle and environment influence which genes turn on or off.

Think of epigenetics as the dimmer switches on your DNA. You can’t change the wiring, but you can control how bright the lights shine.

Here’s what moves those switches in your favor:

• Eat real food: Ultra-processed diets raise inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress — three pillars of cancer risk. Real food reverses that chemistry.

• Move often: Exercise increases insulin sensitivity, strengthens immune surveillance (your body’s internal tumor radar), and clears out damaged mitochondria. Even brisk walking lowers risk across multiple cancer types.

• Rest deeply: Chronic stress and poor sleep suppress immune function and slow DNA repair. Your body does its best anti-cancer work when you’re asleep.

• Optimize vitamin D — safely: Vitamin D plays a huge role in immune regulation and cancer defense, but balance matters more than quantity. Test, don’t guess, and correct deficiencies without frying in the sun.

• Give your cells space: A simple 12 to 14 hour overnight fast supports autophagy — your body’s natural cleanup cycle. No need for extremes; just let your system reset.

Small, sustainable shifts compound. Over years, they turn into massive biological dividends.

🔋 The Mitochondrial Connection

Every cell runs on mitochondria — the tiny power plants that decide whether a cell repairs itself or self-destructs when damaged.

When they’re overloaded by constant stress, poor nutrition, or lack of metabolic downtime, that decision-making falters. Damaged cells that should die, don’t. They adapt. They multiply.

That’s where cancer begins — not as sudden betrayal, but as lost cellular quality control.

This is why the lifestyle stuff isn’t optional. Every walk, every night of real sleep, every hour you’re not eating — those are signals that keep mitochondria healthy. You’re not just “being healthy.” You’re maintaining the machinery that decides whether damaged cells die or multiply.

🧠 Beyond “Bad Luck” — Taking a Proactive Stance

It’s easy to feel helpless when the conversation turns to cancer. It feels random, unfair, and impossibly complex. But it’s not random. It’s systemic — and systems can be influenced.

Prevention isn’t a guarantee, but it is a probability game. You can tilt the odds.

Before I get into the tests I took, I want to be clear: testing gives information. Lifestyle gives power. These tools gave me data, but they didn’t change what I do daily — they just confirmed I was on the right track.

🔬 The Tools That Helped Me

Color Hereditary Cancer Test

Color analyzes genes linked to hereditary cancer (like BRCA1/2 and Lynch syndrome). The process was simple, and the results gave me clarity, not panic.

What I learned: most people won’t need drastic action, but understanding your risk helps you decide how often to screen and what to monitor.

Galleri Multi-Cancer Early Detection Test

Galleri is a newer blood test that looks for methylation patterns tied to over 50 cancer types. It’s not yet part of the official guidelines, and it’s expensive (~$950), but it points to where medicine is heading — proactive detection instead of reactive diagnosis.

If you explore it, do it with context: Galleri doesn’t replace traditional screenings. It complements them.

Both tests gave me perspective. They didn’t change my habits — they simply confirmed I was building the right foundation.

🌿 Reducing the Cellular Stress Load

Testing gave me information. Lifestyle gives me power.

Your daily habits determine whether your body becomes an environment where cancer can grow — or where it can’t gain a foothold.

Here’s what I try to prioritize:

• Move your body every day. Even walking counts. Consistency beats intensity.

• Eat whole foods: Protein, colorful plants, omega-3s; minimal sugar and refined oils.

• Sleep 7-9 hours. That’s when your body repairs. And yes, it’s hard — jobs, kids, racing minds — but it’s non-negotiable.

• Limit exposures: Don’t smoke, moderate alcohol, filter your water.

• Manage stress: Sunlight, time away from screens. The standard maintenance.

It sounds simple and that’s the point. The basics are the most sophisticated form of prevention we have.

🩺 The Systemic Blind Spot

We’ve built an extraordinary system for treating cancer — but not preventing it.

Less than 5 percent of healthcare spending goes to prevention. The incentives reward intervention, not preservation.

That’s not conspiracy — it’s misalignment. But it’s one you can personally correct.

Prevention doesn’t live in hospitals. It lives in habits.

💡 The Takeaway

Cancer isn’t random. It’s the long-term outcome of a system under stress.

You can’t rewrite your genes, but you can shape their environment — the daily inputs that decide how your body expresses health or disease.

My results came back clean. But that didn’t make me feel safe — it made me feel responsible. Because now I know — this is mine to maintain.

If you do nothing else this week, walk 30 minutes a day. It’s free, proven, and shockingly protective.

Because the real defense against cancer isn’t found in a lab.

It’s built in the small, consistent choices that keep your cells — and your life — stable.

Until next week. Stay vital.

-Jordan Slotopolsky

🧠 Sources

World Health Organization, Global Cancer Report 2023; American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2024; Anand P et al., Pharm Res.* 2008; Warburg O.,* Science* 1956; Seyfried TN & Shelton LM,* Nutr Metab (Lond)* 2010; Giovannucci E et al.,* J Natl Cancer Inst.* 2006; Friedenreich CM et al.,* Nat Rev Cancer* 2021; Longo VD & Panda S,* Nat Rev Cancer* 2021; Cheng CW et al.,* Cell* 2017; Lynch HT & de la Chapelle A,* N Engl J Med.* 2003; ACS Medical & Scientific Advisory Board, Early Detection and Screening Guidelines 2024; Galleri (Grail Inc.), Clinical Validation Data 2023; Color Health, Hereditary Cancer Risk Genetic Testing Overview 2024.

Strength training made for perimenopause.

Most fitness plans ignore what your body is going through. We don’t.

Trainwell pairs you with a certified trainer who understands perimenopause and creates a strength plan built around you.

With trainwell you get:

• Strength workouts designed for this stage of life

• A trainer who understands perimenopause

• A personalized plan to build and maintain muscle

• Support to keep you consistent and motivated

Take the quiz to get matched with your trainer and start building your personalized plan.

Start your 14-day free trial.