Smoking Cancer
Estimations are that one in three persons (smokers) will, at some stage of their lives, develop cancer and out of four one will die of it. In the year 2000, about 15,500 people died in Australia due to lung cancer caused due to smoking cigarettes.Cigarette smoking is an important cause of cancers of the larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), lungs, oesophagus, kidney, pancreas, and bladder. A recent review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer found that, in addition to these cancers, smoking is a cause of cancer of the nasal cavities and nasal sinuses, stomach liver, cervix and acute myeloid leukaemia.
Some facts...
Smoking is the only preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. The death toll concludes that deaths due to smoking include 80% of all drug-related deaths and 11 times those caused due to road accidents.
Some of the symptoms of cancer are:
- Unusual discharge or bleeding
- Any unexplained change in toilet habits
- A lump in the breast, neck, armpit or anywhere else in the body
- New skin spots, or a spot or mole that has changed in size, colour or shape
The major harmful forms of cancer caused due to smoking of cigarettes are lung cancer, mouth and oral cancer, throat cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, leukaemia (blood cancer) and stomach cancer.
Lung cancer
This form of cancer is the most common in the world that is caused due to smoking. Every year around 1.2 million new cases for lung cancer are diagnosed all around the world. It is a form a cancer that is most commonly related to smoking. About 90% of cases of lung cancer are due to smoking.
One out of two smokers face premature death and one in four dies of lung cancer. The more cigarettes you smoke per day, the more you are prone to die of lung cancer. Early starters have the greatest risk of suffering from lung cancer. Smokers who start when they are young are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer. A study result showed that those who started smoking before 15 years of age had twice as many cell mutations as those who started after the age of 20.
To find about more information on lung cancer and other deadly forms of cancer caused by smoking you can contact the Australian Cancer Council at:
Australian Cancer Council
Secretariat
Medical Director- Professor Bruce Barraclough AO
Senior Medical Advisor- Emeritus Professor Tom Reeve AC CBE
Executive Assistant (Mon-Thurs)- Christine Vuletich
Office Assistant (Wed & Fri)- Mariana Zafeirakopoulos
GPO Box 4708
Sydney NSW 2001
Tel: +61 2 9036 3120
Fax: +61 2 9036 3121
Email: acn@cancer.org.au
Website: www.cancer.org.au/acn