Cigarettes Cause One-Third of US Cancer Deaths Says Report

Despite large declines in smoking rates in America, cigarettes still cause about one-third of cancer deaths in the United States, according to a new study.  

The American Cancer Society wrote recently, "Our results indicate that cigarette smoking causes about three in 10 cancer deaths in the contemporary United States. Reducing smoking prevalence as rapidly as possible should be a top priority for U.S. public health efforts to prevent future cancer deaths"

The data for the new cancer death estimate does NOT include deaths from secondhand smoke.  In addition, it does NOT include deaths from other types of tobacco use such as cigars, pipes, or smokeless tobacco.  It does NOT matter to me since I think that all types of smoking is disgusting!

The study appears in the journal "Annals of Epidemiology".

 In the 1980s, a study concluded that 30% of all cancer deaths in the United States were caused by smoking.  Since that time, the only study conducted was the latest study done by researchers at the American Cancer Society recently.

 The researchers at the American Cancer Society said the rate of smoking-related cancer deaths in 2010 (people used in recent study) is higher than the rate three decades ago.  However, they noted that does NOT mean falling smoking rates have not helped reduce cancer deaths.

 Additional factors contributed to the higher rate in 2010.  Those factors include an increasing number of cancers known to be caused by smoking, rising lung cancer death rates among women smokers, and progress in reducing deaths from cancers caused by factors other than smoking, the researchers said.