Smoking and Lung Cancer - How Much of a Connection is There

Many people understand that smoking and lung cancer are intrinsically related. In fact, you can rarely have one without the other.

But with all the treatment options available for people today, is there still a connection between smoking and lung cancer? What are the chances that a smoker will get this disease? Are there things a doctor can do to help?

Unfortunately, lung cancer and smoking are still very much related. Smoking is the leading cause of the disease, and there still is no known cure.

Cancer of the lung is when tissue of the organ grows out of control. This may lead to metastasis, invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs.

Even with all the talk about the dangers of smoking, lung cancer is the most common form of cancer-related death in men and second most common for women. There are an estimated 1.3 million deaths worldwide suffered annually from this disease.

Smoking causes lung cancer in about 90% of cases. A man who smokes has a 17% chance of getting lung cancer – that means that for male smokers, one out of five will get the disease. For women, the statistics are closer to 11%, or one out of ten.

Why does smoking cause lung cancer?

Cigarettes are not just rolled tobacco as many people believe. Tobacco companies purposely add many substances to their cigarettes in order to make them even more addictive, and most of these substances are toxic on their own or become toxic during the chemical process of being burned.

Cigarette smoke contains over 60 known carcinogens including radioisotopes from the radon decay sequence, nitrosamine, and benzopyrene. Additionally, nicotine appears to depress the immune response to malignant growths in exposed tissue. Can you imagine putting that junk into your body?

Unfortunately, even non-smokers are not safe from the smoking and lung cancer connection. Passive smoking—the inhalation of smoke from another’s smoking—is a cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

Studies from the U.S., Europe, the UK, and Australia have consistently shown a significant increase in relative risk among those exposed to passive smoke. In fact, recent investigation of sidestream smoke suggests it is more dangerous than direct smoke inhalation

Unfortunately, even with treatment, the five-year survival rate is only 14%.

Of course, there are other factors that can cause or contribute to one’s case of lung cancer, including radiation poisoning, exposure to asbestos, genetics, and living in a very polluted environment.

However, there is no mistaking the fact that cigarette smoking and lung cancer are still very much connected, giving any smoker yet another reason why it’s important now to quit smoking! The sooner a person stops smoking, the better chance they have of not getting a smoking-related disease. It makes a big difference.