Tobacco-related cancers
Tobacco-related cancers are malignant tumors that arise from the use of tobacco products or exposure to tobacco smoke. The most prominent cancer associated with tobacco use is lung cancer, which accounts for the majority of cancer deaths in the United States, with 80 to 90 percent of these fatalities attributed to smoking. Other cancers linked to tobacco include those of the bladder, breast, esophagus, kidney, larynx, liver, mouth, nasal cavity, pancreas, pharynx, stomach, and uterus, as well as endometrial, cervical, colon cancers, and acute myeloid leukemia.
Tobacco products encompass cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco. While nicotine itself is not carcinogenic, numerous harmful chemicals produced during tobacco combustion contribute to cancer risk. The incidence of cancer linked to tobacco use is significant; approximately 40 percent of cancer diagnoses in the U.S. are associated with tobacco, with over eight million deaths attributed to tobacco use globally each year. Importantly, quitting smoking can substantially reduce cancer risk, with evidence showing that the risk of various cancers decreases significantly after cessation. Overall, tobacco use poses a considerable public health challenge, leading to substantial healthcare costs and lost productivity.
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Tobacco-related cancers
DEFINITION: Tobacco-related cancers are malignant tumors that are caused wholly or in part by the direct use of or indirect exposure to tobacco and tobacco-based products.
RELATED CANCERS: There are many types of cancer related to tobacco. The best-known condition associated with tobacco is lung cancer. In the United States, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, with between 80 and 90 percent of these deaths related to tobacco. Other types of cancer related to tobacco include cancers of the bladder, breast, esophagus, kidney, larynx, liver, mouth, nasal cavity, pancreas, pharynx, stomach, and uterus. Tobacco also has been related to endometrial, cervical, and colon cancers, as well as acute myeloid leukemia.
Tobacco-related products and their risks: Tobacco products include cigarettes and cigars, as well as smokeless tobacco (such as snuff or chew) and pipe tobacco. Interestingly, nicotine is not considered carcinogenic, though it may play a role in cancer. It is the other chemicals in these products, as well as what happens to them when vaporized through the process of smoking, which are troublesome. For instance, the smoke may contain ammonia, carbon monoxide, cyanide, and even formaldehyde. The way the products are used relates somewhat to the types of cancers produced. For instance, lung cancer is more associated with smoking, while the use of smokeless tobacco products is typically linked to cancers of the mouth and throat.
Incidence and statistics: Approximately 40 percent of all cancer diagnoses in the United States were linked to tobacco use, according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vital Signs Report in 2016. In 2022, the American Cancer Society reported 30 percent of all cancer deaths were linked to smoking. Worldwide, more than eight million people die each year from tobacco use, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Of those deaths, seven million are related to direct tobacco use, with the remaining million being non-smokers who were exposed to tobacco.
Of the four thousand chemicals in tobacco smoke, more than two hundred are known to be harmful, and around seventy are known carcinogens. It has been established that smoking cessation significantly lowers the risk of developing and dying from cancer. Five years after quitting, the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder decreases by half. Ten years after quitting, a former smoker's risk of dying from lung cancer is 50 percent less than the risk faced by those who continue to smoke. In addition to cancer, smoking also causes cardiovascular disease, stroke, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Each year in the United States, tobacco-related health problems cost almost $300 billion in care and $156 billion in lost productivity, according to the CDC in 2021. According to the WHO, however, tobacco use has substantially declined in the twenty-first century. One in five adults are believed to be tobacco users worldwide, and this number is down from one in three in 2000.
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