Cigarette Smoking and Cancer

Did you know that cigarette smoking is responsible for approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths annually in the United States? In addition to lung cancer, smoking also causes chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cataracts. The health risks caused by cigarette smoking are not only limited to smokers; secondhand smoke is responsible for 3,000 deaths among American nonsmokers every year.

Cause of Lung Cancer

An Overview of Cigarette Smoking and Cancer

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 birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and other serious pregnancy complications.

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

Cancer Rates Linked to Cigarette Smoking

87 percent of lung cancer deaths are caused by cigarette smoking. 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.

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