Cigarette Smoking and Cancer

Cigarette Smoking and Cancer, Key Points;

* Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths and is responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and bladder.

* Secondhand smoke is responsible for an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers each year.

* Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemical agents, including over 60 substances that are known to cause cancer.

* The risk of developing smoking-related cancers, as well as noncancerous diseases, increases with total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke.

* Smoking cessation has major and immediate health benefits, including decreasing the risk of lung and other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung diseas

Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smoking alone is directly responsible for approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths annually in the United States.

Cigarette smoking also causes chronic lung disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cataracts. Smoking during pregnancy can cause stillbirth, low birthweight, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and other serious pregnancy complications.

Quitting smoking greatly reduces a person’s risk of developing the diseases mentioned, and can limit adverse health effects on the developing child.

* What are the effects of cigarette smoking on cancer rates?

Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. Smoking is also responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and bladder. In addition, it is a cause of kidney, pancreatic, cervical, and stomach cancers, as well as acute myeloid leukemia.

* Are there any health risks for nonsmokers?

The health risks caused by cigarette smoking are not limited to smokers. Exposure to secondhand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), significantly increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease in nonsmokers, as well as several respiratory illnesses in young children. Secondhand smoke is a combination of the smoke that is released from the end of a burning cigarette and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Science’s National Toxicology Program, and the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen—a category reserved for agents for which there is sufficient scientific evidence that they cause cancer. The U.S. EPA has estimated that exposure to secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers and is responsible for up to 300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in children up to 18 months of age in the United States each year.

* What harmful chemicals are found in cigarette smoke?

Cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 chemical agents, including over 60 carcinogens. In addition, many of these substances, such as carbon monoxide, tar, arsenic, and lead, are poisonous and toxic to the human body. Nicotine is a drug that is naturally present in the tobacco plant and is primarily responsible for a person’s addiction to tobacco products, including cigarettes. During smoking, nicotine is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and travels to the brain in a matter of seconds. Nicotine causes addiction to cigarettes and other tobacco products that is similar to the addiction produced by using heroin and cocaine.

* How does exposure to tobacco smoke affect the cigarette smoker?

Smoking harms nearly every major organ of the body. The risk of developing smoking-related diseases, such as lung and other cancers, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory illnesses, increases with total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke. This includes the number of cigarettes a person smokes each day, the intensity of smoking (i.e., the size and frequency of puffs), the age at which smoking began, the number of years a person has smoked, and a smoker’s secondhand smoke exposure.

* How would quitting smoking affect the risk of developing cancer and other diseases?

Smoking cessation has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages. Quitting smoking decreases the risk of lung and other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease. The earlier a person quits, the greater the health benefit. For example, research has shown that people who quit before age 50 reduce their risk of dying in the next 15 years by half compared with those who continue to smoke. Smoking low-yield cigarettes, as compared to cigarettes with higher tar and nicotine, provides no clear benefit to health.



Cigarette Smoking and Lung Cancer

26 Feb 2008 at 5:00am
Smoking plays a role in lung cancer development and now scientists have shown that smoking also affects the way genes are expressed, leading to alterations in cell division and regulation of immune response. Notably, some of the changes in gene expression persisted in people who had quit smoking many years earlier.
13 Jan 2008 at 11:01pm
Q: I know that smoking is very bad for me. I've cut down to one cigarette after lunch and another after dinner each day, with two or three more on most Friday and Saturday nights when I socialize. I really enjoy smoking, but I want to know if I'm harming myself.A: Sorry to say, you are.
9 Jul 2008 at 6:00am
Even though cigarette smoking accounts for up to half of all bladder cancer cases, few people are aware of the connection - including more than three-quarters of patients who have bladder cancer, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
19 Nov 2007 at 6:50pm
A Cancer survivor from Derby has warned smokers to look after their lungs or they could die. Janet Tandy is speaking out to mark Lung Cancer Awareness Month and telling people to quit smoking to protect their health. The 62-year-old is currently in remission from lung cancer, after smoking for nearly 40 years. [click link for full article]
7 Jul 2008 at 10:00pm
(University of Michigan Health System) Even though cigarette smoking accounts for up to half of all bladder cancer cases, few people are aware of the connection -- including more than three-quarters of patients who have bladder cancer, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
28 Feb 2008 at 6:00am
Smoking by a non-biological parent is as influential as smoking by biological parents in determining whether their teenager smokes, reveal the results of a Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Addiction*.
25 Jan 2008 at 4:00am
Figures show that lung cancer has increased as a result of past smoking rates. Despite smoking rates falling to record lows, private health insurance claims for lung cancer have soared 21 per cent for women and 24 per cent for men in five years.
28 Nov 2007 at 5:00am
Heavy smoking and drinking are known to cause head and neck cancer. Infection with human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16), a common strain of the sexually-transmitted HPV virus, is another known risk factor for head and neck cancer, which affects about 500,000 people each year worldwide.New Brown University research, however, shows that alcohol and tobacco use [...]
29 May 2008 at 8:52pm
LONDON (AP) -- The British Cabinet discussed the early warnings about a link between smoking and lung cancer more than 50 years ago, but viewed the threat as minor and did little for fear of losing tax revenue, according to documents released Friday....
18 Jan 2008 at 2:00am
According to the Canadian Cancer Society there is widespread support for laws which would ban smoking in cars carrying young people. The society commissioned a poll that suggests the vast majority of Canadians including smokers would support the idea.
30 May 2008 at 12:41am
The British Cabinet discussed the early warnings about a link between smoking and lung cancer more than 50 years ago but viewed the threat as minor, according to documents released Friday.
21 Jan 2008 at 10:00pm
A new study has found that cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption do not have an effect on ovarian cancer risk, while caffeine intake may lower the risk, particularly in women not using hormones.
23 Apr 2008 at 10:00pm
(American Cancer Society) A new study from the American Cancer Society finds black and Hispanic smokers are less likely than whites to receive and use smoking cessation advice and aids.
22 Jan 2008 at 6:52pm
Smoking and drinking may not make ovarian cancer more likely, and caffeine may cut ovarian cancer risk, experts note in the journal Cancer.
15 Apr 2008 at 6:00am
If lung cancer and heart disease aren't bad enough, cigarette smokers are also at higher risk for developing, among other things, pancreatic cancer. Now, researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have preliminary evidence indicating one possible reason why.