Lung cancer and smoking

 

Not all smokers get lung cancer, and not everyone who has lung cancer is a smoker. But there’s no doubt that smoking is the biggest risk factor, causing 9 out of 10 Trusted Source lung cancers.

In addition to cigarettes, cigar and pipe smoking are also linked to lung cancer. The more you smoke and the longer you smoke, the bigger your chance of developing lung cancer.

You don’t have to be a smoker to be affected.

Breathing in other people’s smoke increases the risk of lung cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC) Trusted Source, secondhand smoke is responsible for about 7,300 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States.

Tobacco products contain more than 7,000 chemicals, and at least 70 are known to cause cancer.

When you inhale tobacco smoke, this mixture of chemicals is delivered directly to your lungs, where it immediately starts causing damage.

The lungs can usually repair damage at first, but the continued effect on lung tissue becomes harder to manage. That’s when damaged cells can mutate and grow out of control.

The chemicals you inhale also enter your bloodstream and are carried throughout your body, increasing the risk of other types of cancer.

Former smokers are still at risk of developing lung cancer, but quitting can lower that risk considerably. Within 10 years of quitting, the risk of dying from lung cancer drops by half.

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