World Campus February 2026 Session: how to separate fact from fiction in cancer care
Presentation by Liz O’Riordan

In February, we welcomed breast surgeon and three-time breast cancer patient Liz O’Riordan to our World Campus.

Liz creates written, audio, and visual content to help people understand what cancer is and how to cope with it. In her session, “How to separate fact from fiction when it comes to cancer causes and cures,” she addressed one of today’s biggest challenges: misinformation.

Drawing from her book The Cancer Roadmap, she explained what truly causes cancer, and what doesn’t, and why headlines often exaggerate risk.

Key messages:

• Age is the biggest risk factor; only 5-10% of cancers are inherited.

• Tobacco, alcohol, and obesity increase risk – but often by small absolute numbers.

• Exercise reduces cancer risk and recurrence significantly.

• Sugar, deodorant, underwire bras, parabens and biopsies do not cause cancer.

She also highlighted the dangers of replacing evidence-based treatment with alternative therapies, which are linked to worse outcomes.

Her message was clear: Question the headlines, understand real risk, and don’t let myths replace science.

Watch the full session here: