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This year Steve Rangel got a call no one ever wants to receive. After getting his prostate biopsied, his urologist called one week earlier than Steve had expected to give him startling news.

“The urologist called me personally,” says Rangel. “He said "You got cancer." A phone call you don’t want to get. I got cancer in my prostate. He said to bring my whole family with me to the appointment next week.”

Mary Vasquez, 61, was diagnosed with Stage 2 Colon Cancer in 2017 after a routine colonoscopy, an exam used to detect changes or abnormalities in the colon and rectum.

“When I woke up after my colonoscopy, I was told I had colon cancer and they needed to operate,” Vasquez said. “I told them to do what they had to do. They had to cut my colon and sew it back. It was a seven hour surgery.”

After another colonoscopy in February 2019, Vasquez found out her cancer had returned.

Cigarette smoking is one of the most common (and dangerous) habits to pick up.

It’s also the leading risk factor for lung cancer, the second most common cancer among both men and women in the United States. So why is smoking so bad for your lung health? Smoking is harmful to the body from the moment it is inhaled.

“Smoking inflames and irritates the lungs," said Dr. Jeffrey Mazer with Lovelace Medical Group. Dr. Mazer is board-certified in critical care, pulmonary medicine and internal medicine.

According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, In 2019, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed amongst women. So what can you do to reduce your risk of developing breast cancer? During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are sharing a few things you can use to reduce your risk of developing breast cancer: