When employees develop cancer, businesses bear not only the direct medical costs of the disease, but also the indirect costs associated with lost work time, disability payments, loss of a trained employee, and retraining. Research has confirmed that aggressive prevention and screening programs can be, and indeed are, effective in limiting the number and severity of cancer cases. Primary prevention and early detection programs are two important ways of combatting cancer. Primary prevention programs can be aimed at reducing smoking, improving diet, and reducing exposure to occupational hazards. Early detection programs could concentrate on screening for breast, colorectal, uterine, and/or lung cancer. The National Cancer Institute has encouraged industry to offer health promotion programs and screening programs to employees, collaborate with employee groups to promote worksite health promotion programs, monitor employee use of measures to prevent exposure to carcinogens in the workplace, offer on-site food options congruent with cancer prevention, and develop insurance policies that reward risk-avoidance behaviors. (Twenty-three examples of companies that have developed cancer prevention programs and a list of resource organizations and materials devoted to cancer prevention are included in this document.) (MN)