What are tobacco-related cancers? |

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 87 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, cigars, 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 that are troublesome. For
instance, the smoke may contain substances such as ammonia, carbon monoxide,
cyanide, and even formaldehyde. Obviously, the way the products are used relates
somewhat to the types of cancers produced. For instance, lung cancer is more
associated with smoking, while use of smokeless tobacco products is typically
linked to cancers
of the mouth and throat.

Incidence and statistics: Approximately 30 percent of all cancer
deaths in the United States are said to be caused by tobacco use. Worldwide,
nearly six million people die each year from tobacco use, according to the World
Health Organization. However, in addition to the more than five million smokers
who die each year due to tobacco, more than 600,000 nonsmokers who have been
exposed to secondhand smoke also die. Of the four thousand chemicals in
tobacco smoke, more than two hundred are known to be harmful and more than fifty
are known to be carcinogenic. 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.
Each year in the United States, tobacco-related health problems cost Medicaid more
than $23 billion and Medicare $20 billion.

Bibliography

Armour, Brian S., Eric A. Finkelstein, and
Ian C. Fiebelkorn. "State-Level Medicaid Expenditures Attributable to
Smoking." Preventing Chronic Disease 6.3 (2009): A84. Web.
13 Nov. 2014.

Chen, George G., ed. Cigarette
Consumption and Health Effects. New York: Nova, 2013.
Print.

Koskinen, Charles J., ed. Handbook
of Smoking and Health. New York: Nova, 2011. Print.

LaTorre, Giuseppe. Smoking
Prevention and Cessation. New York: Springer, 2013.
Print.

Niederhuber, John E., et al.
Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia:
Saunders, 2013. Print.

Roth, Jack A., Waun Ki Hong, and Ritsuko
U. Komaki, eds. Lung Cancer. 4th ed. Hoboken: Wiley, 2014.
Print.

US Dept. of Health and Human Services.
A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes
Disease. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2010. PDF file.