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The following tables summarize the impact of smoking as a
cause of death from cancer. For each of these cancer types, the tables
provide several statistics. These estimates are based on results of the
American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS II), which
used survey results from about 1,200,000 volunteers to determine what
factors can cause cancer or help prevent it. Statistics from CPS II are
used in the United States Surgeon General’s report on the health
consequences of smoking and in other government publications.
The tables describe only the effects of tobacco use on cancer
deaths. They do not include deaths from other tobacco-related causes
such as heart and lung diseases, which are substantial. The data are
taken from the years 1997 to 2001.
Current smoker
is defined as someone who has smoked at least 100
cigarettes over his or her lifetime and now smokes every day or some
days.
Former smoker or
ex-smoker is
defined as someone who has smoked more than 100 cigarettes over his or
her lifetime and who does not now smoke every day or some days.
The relative
risk (RR) is the risk of death from cancer among current
or former smokers when compared with the risk for non-smokers. For
example, assume that the risk of death from a type of cancer among
non-smokers, ex-smokers, and current smokers was 5, 10, and 20 deaths
per 100,000 people per year, respectively. The relative risk for
ex-smokers would be 10 divided by 5, equaling 2. In other words, since
5 non-smokers die from this cancer every year, the fact that 10
ex-smokers die means that ex-smokers have twice the risk of
non-smokers. The RR for current smokers would be 20 divided by 5,
equaling 4. Current smokers, then, would be 4 times more likely to die
from this cancer than those who never smoked, so we say their relative
risk is 4.
The effect of smoking on each type of cancer is different.
For example, smoking greatly increases the risk of developing and dying
from cancers of the lungs and larynx, and has a smaller effect on
cancer of the cervix.
The annual
deaths column estimates the number of deaths year from
each cancer type in the United States.
Smoking
attributable mortality (SAM) is the number of deaths each
year from each cancer type in the United States caused by smoking.
Population
attributable risk (PAR) describes the percentage of
deaths from each type of cancer that are due to smoking. For example,
about 89,900 men die of lung cancer each year in the United States.
About 79,000 lung cancer deaths among men are caused by smoking, which
means that the smoking causes about 88% of lung cancer deaths among men
(100 times 79,000 divided by 89,900).
Years of
potential life lost (YPLL) estimates how much a
smoking-related cancer shortened the lives of people who died of these
diseases each year. As a simple example, if the average life expectancy
were 85 years and 1,000 people died of a smoking-related cancer at age
70, that would mean 15,000 (15 times 1,000) years of life were lost.
These numbers depend both on the number of people dying from a type of
cancer and the average number of years each of them loses.
Men
| Cancer Type
|
RR for current smokers
|
RR for former smokers
|
Annual deaths*
|
SAM*
|
PAR (%)
|
YPLL*
|
| Lip, oral cavity, pharynx |
10.9 |
3.4 |
5,000 |
3,700 |
74 |
63,200 |
| Esophagus |
6.8 |
4.5 |
9,000 |
6,500 |
72 |
101,100 |
| Stomach |
2.0 |
1.5 |
7,400 |
2,100 |
28 |
29,400 |
| Pancreas |
2.3 |
1.2 |
14,000 |
3,100 |
22 |
48,300 |
| Layrnx (voice box) |
14.6 |
6.3 |
3,000 |
2,500 |
83 |
38,200 |
| Lung |
23.3 |
8.7 |
89,900 |
79,000 |
88 |
1,113,600 |
| Urinary Bladder |
3.3 |
2.1 |
8,000 |
3,800 |
48 |
42,200 |
| Kidney, other urinary |
2.7 |
1.7 |
7,200 |
2,800 |
39 |
43,100 |
| Acute myeloid leukemia |
1.9 |
1.3 |
3,400 |
800 |
24 |
11,700 |
| TOTAL |
- |
- |
147,000 |
104,200 |
- |
1,490,800 |
*Rounded to the nearest hundred
Women
| Cancer Type
|
RR for current smokers
|
RR for former smokers
|
Annual deaths*
|
SAM*
|
PAR (%)
|
YPLL*
|
| Lip, oral cavity, pharynx |
5.1 |
2.3 |
2,500 |
1,200 |
48 |
19,700 |
| Esophagus |
7.8 |
2.8 |
2,900 |
1,600 |
55 |
25,000 |
| Stomach |
1.4 |
1.3 |
5,200 |
600 |
12 |
9,200 |
| Pancreas |
2.3 |
1.6 |
14,800 |
3,400 |
23 |
51,600 |
| Layrnx (voice box) |
13.0 |
5.2 |
800 |
600 |
75 |
10,400 |
| Lung |
12.7 |
4.5 |
63,200 |
44,800 |
71 |
740,200 |
| Cervix uteri |
1.6 |
1.1 |
4,000 |
500 |
13 |
13,000 |
| Urinary Bladder |
2.2 |
1.9 |
3,800 |
1,100 |
29 |
13,000 |
| Kidney, other urinary |
1.3 |
1.1 |
4,500 |
200 |
4 |
3,900 |
| Acute myeloid leukemia |
1.1 |
1.4 |
2,900 |
300 |
10 |
5,000 |
| TOTAL |
- |
- |
104,600 |
54,300 |
- |
890,800 |
*Rounded to the nearest hundred
The difference in the numbers for men and women is caused by
several factors, including the average number of cigarettes smoked, how
deeply each sex inhales, the age at which they started smoking, and,
for former smokers, the age at which they quit.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Annual
smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and
productivity losses - United States, 1997-2001. MMWR.
2005;54:625-628. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5425a1.htm. Accessed October 19,
2007.
Office of the US Surgeon General. The Health Consequences of
Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office on Smoking and Health.
2004. Available at:
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/smokingconsequences/. Accessed October
19, 2007.
Revised: 10/30/2007
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