Background: Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and about 1 in 6 deaths are due to cancer. Objective: The study was designed to study the opinion of the rural youth of Varanasi, India on some factors that can increase a person’s chance of developing cancer. Materials and methods: A cross sectional community based survey was conducted in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Total one hundred eighty two youth in the age group of 15– 24 years was selected by simple random sampling. Predesigned and pretested Performa was used for the study. Result: One hundred and twenty eight (70.3%) subjects were of the opinion that smoking any cigarette at all can increase a person‘s chance of developing cancer. Other reasons stated for increasing a person‘s chance of developing cancer were drinking >1 unit of alcohol a day (50.0%), having a close relative with cancer (34.6%), being overweight (34.1%), being over 70 years old (30.8%). 68.4% male, 54.8% female subjects stated that person‘s in 60‘s and 70‘s years of life are most likely to develop cancer next year. Conclusion: The overall opinion of the subject regarding factors that can increase a person’s chance of developing cancer was not up to the mark. There were consideration differences between the opinion of male and female youth of Varanasi.