How Does Smoking Cause Cancer?

Dr.Parveen Jain, 3 mins read

Understandably, quite a few people believe that smoking causes only lung cancer. In contrast, smoking and tobacco use can cause cancer just about anywhere in your body. According to epidemiological studies, smoking can significantly increase the risk of these 12 cancers: cancers of the lung, larynx, head and neck, esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum, liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterine cervix, and acute myeloid leukemia. Before proceeding further, do you know the most critical piece of advice anyone can give you regarding tobacco and cancer? “Don’t start” if you don’t use it, and if you do: “quit now” while you can; it does not matter how long you’ve smoked or used other tobacco products; all you need to know is that quitting will undoubtedly decrease the risk of developing cancer and a host of other diseases.

Tobacco is addictive because it contains nicotine, a naturally found drug in tobacco leaves. If you’re a smoker and have tried to give up many times but find yourself smoking all over again, don’t worry. Almost every person who has quit tobacco did so after failing a fair few times. All that’s needed is the will, after which a sound support system and a few nicotine substitutes are a good measure. If you or anyone you know wish to quit tobacco, please feel free and reach out anytime you like; our experts make it a little easier for you to come good on your decision to quit smoking with clinically tried and tested methods that have helped countless people quit tobacco and choose life.

HOW SMOKING CAUSES CANCER HOW

SMOKE: Smoke from tobacco products like cigarettes, cigars, and pipes has over 80 chemicals in it, out of which 70 can cause cancer. While smokers continue to smoke, those around will also be forced to inhale “second-hand smoke,” which puts them at just the same risk as a smoker. Every breath you breathe in smoke, these chemicals enter your bloodstream, and from there, they travel to all parts of your body. A majority of these chemicals have the potential to damage or alter your DNA, which is the control panel for your body, creating new cells and directing them to do what they were made for. This mutated or damaged DNA can change the way cells grow, and these new mutated cells can become cancer.

SMOKELESS TOBACCO PRODUCTS: Tobacco is consumed orally without burning and smokeless tobacco products like gutka (chewing tobacco) and khainee (dipping tobacco) also cause various cancers, including oesophageal cancers, mouth and throat, head and neck, and pancreatic cancers.

E-CIGARETTES: Do not be misled by anyone claiming that E-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes) are not as harmful as regular cigarettes. The mist they produce (called a cloud) comes from heating a liquid that contains flavorings and many chemicals, most of which are harmful. The liquid usually has nicotine, the same addictive drug in other tobacco products. It’s the same as smoking, users will inhale the mist, and those nearby will be covered by it, left with no choice but to breathe it in. E-cigarettes are not safe for anyone, men, women, trans individuals, children, young adults, and pregnant women, and nobody is safe from any smoke.

LACK OF HEALTH AMENITIES

There is a massive gap in the quality of life; civic amenities that include health facilities are much more equitably spread across developed nations compared to poorer countries where economic disparities are as wide as they’ve ever been. On top of that, there is already a significant difference in the overall health of populations, quality of health care, and so on: these are known as health disparities. Smokers in economically developed countries also have to pay exorbitant amounts to buy cigarettes, while tobacco is relatively cheap in most Asian countries.

THE MOST HARMFUL CHEMICALS IN CIGARETTE SMOKE

Out of 8000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, 70 are harmful, and out of these, the most well-known is benzo[a]pyrene or BP. It is a ring-shaped chemical produced when tobacco leaves burn; it is built upon the burning of any organic matter. Upon entering the body, BP begins to disrupt the DNA, causing cell mutations, which could become cancerous. BP is everywhere; it comes from barbecuing meats, car and chimney exhausts, fireplaces, farm burning, coal, tar, and soot.

CARCINOGENS FOUND IN TOBACCO

Some carcinogenic substances are specific to tobacco and do not require any burning whatsoever to take effect. This is why chewing tobacco and snuff are carcinogenic even though they aren’t consumed through smoking.

A particular type of tobacco-specific carcinogens is called nitrosamines, chemicals derived from nicotine that form in the tobacco plant when it's growing. These chemicals can bind to DNA and cause inaccurate DNA copying, which causes cancer.

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