I think you are mostly right but reality, as usual, is much more complicated than that. HPVs give you cancer. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papilloma

I think you are mostly right but reality, as usual, is much more complicated than that. HPVs give you cancer. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papillomavirus_infection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papillomavirus_infection Also there are other viruses that also cause cancer See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus#Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus#Cancer So you very well could have a cancer patient coughing on you and giving you cancer but the underlying cause is the virus that they have (that caused their cancer) rather than the cancer itself. So you have chaining of cancer (albeit via a virus).