Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of cancer

Tobacco consumption is the leading preventable cause of cancer in France and worldwide.[1]. Currently, 45,000 people die each year in France from cancer linked to their tobacco consumption or exposure to passive smoking. In total, 30,100 of cancer deaths are due to tobacco (while approximately 1,100 are due to pollution).

The presence of more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 70 are carcinogenic, explains this major risk, knowing that the risk of cancer depends mainly on the duration, in years, of smoking and much less on the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Thus, consumption of a few cigarettes per day over a long period (20-30 years) is a major risk factor for cancer. Exposure to passive smoking has also been shown to be carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).[2].

Epidemiological studies demonstrate that tobacco use is the direct cause or a contributing factor in at least 17 cancer sites. Unfortunately, many of these sites are among those that respond least well to current treatments. The current 5-year survival rate for lung cancer patients is approximately 15%.

At least 80 % of lung cancers are due to tobacco, as well as 70 % of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus) and 35 % of bladder cancers. Tobacco also plays a role in the occurrence of cancers of the pancreas, liver, stomach, breast, colorectum, ovary, etc.

Concerning lung cancer (22,761 men and 10,356 women died in France in 2018), the risk of developing such cancer is 10 to 15 times higher in smokers compared to non-smokers. Fortunately, quitting smoking is effective in reducing this risk; thus, knowing that the cumulative risk of developing lung cancer for a smoker aged 75 is 16%, this risk is respectively 10%, 6%, 3%, and 2%, in smokers of the same age (75 years) who stopped at 60, 50, 40 or 30 years[3].

©Tobacco Free Generation