In some ways, cancer is like pests in your house -- the cells have no regard for the traditional rules of your body. Nonetheless, if you know their strategies, you can help yourself outwit them. How good are your cancer smarts? Guess which statements are true:

1. Benign tumors should always be left alone. Benign tumors don't have cancer cells, but they can still be dangerous and need to be removed. That's because some tumors can grow large enough to block the pathway of important nutrients or put pressure on critical organs.

2. If you're diagnosed with cancer, you need treatment immediately. Even though some cancers spread quickly, it's smart to get a second opinion. Although only 10% of people get second opinions, 30% of second opinions change the diagnosis or treatment. More than one in five patients referred to our hospitals -- New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic -- for a specific surgery do not need it. Great docs encourage you to get second opinions, especially since biopsies of common cancers are read incorrectly more than 10% of the time, according to two different studies. The best second opinion comes from a doctor at an institution other than where the first doctor practices and who is well regarded for the treatment of a particular type of cancer.

3. Cancer is contagious. Some cancers -- like cervical cancer, or liver cancer caused by hepatitis B -- are caused by viruses that are contagious (that's why there are vaccines). So in a way, you can catch cancer. But you can't directly swap cancer through being in a room with or touching or hugging someone.

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