Half of cancer deaths in the US are caused by smoking

Photo: Alejandro Camacho B / Shutterstock

A new study published this Thursday in JAMA Network Open shows the ongoing and significant burden that tobacco places on people with cancer.

Researchers at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center used data collected from the California Cancer Registry, an institution-managed, state-mandated, population-based cancer surveillance system.

Analyzed people diagnosed with one of the 11 tobacco-related cancers among 2014 and 2022 in California and the results showed that about half of the deaths from cancer during two years between 2014 Y 2019, with a total of 93,675 Californians, were associated with tobacco use.

“This is almost double what was previously estimated in a study that looked at data from 2014,” said Frances Maguire, a California Cancer Registry investigator and lead author of the study.

According to the report, in the periods of 2016-2016 a 2017-2017, there was a decrease in the proportion of deaths from smoking from 54 % to the 17 %,

with greater decreases for women compared to men. The total number of cancer deaths attributed to smoking decreased by about one %

“Our analyzes of changes during the two time periods suggest promising trends in smoking behavior among Californians newly diagnosed with cancer,

which could be related to continued tobacco control efforts of the state,” commented the study’s lead author, UC Davis Health tobacco researcher and internist Elisa Tong.

According to Maguire, current tobacco use among people diagnosed with cancer was higher than among the general population , but decreased over time.

“This suggests that the Tobacco control efforts have contributed to a decline in cancer mortality in California, but smoking cessation efforts targeting cancer patients are needed,” he explains.

More than a half (57,6%) of Californians in the cancer study had ever used tobacco and current tobacco use was greater than current tobacco use the general population (10,5% vs. %), with a total of 80 100 patients.

Tobacco status data used in the study included the use of cigarettes, other smoking tobacco products (such as cigars and pipes), and non-smoking tobacco products. smoke (such as chewing tobacco and snuff). The registry does not yet record the use of vaping products.

The highest proportions of tobacco-related cancer deaths were found in:

Lung (85,two%)
• Larynx (60,6%)
  
  Esophagus (55%)
  • Oral cavity/pharynx (52,5%)
  • Bladder (17,7%)
    

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