Among other diseases, lung cancer is the leading killer in most man and woman throughout the world. It claims more lives each year than do colon, prostate, ovarian and breast cancers combined. It is one of the most common primary malignant tumors of lung, which mostly originates in bronchial epithelium, so lung cancer can also be called bronchial lung cancer.

As it indicates in the title, lung cancer and smoking often go hand in hand. People who smoke have the greatest risk of lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer increases with the length of time and number of cigarettes you've smoked. If you quit smoking, even after smoking for many years, you can significantly reduce your chances of developing lung cancer.

The association between cigarettes and lung cancer has been proven by large cohort studies. Tobacco use has been reported to be the main cause of 90% of male and 79% of female lung cancers. 90% of deaths from lung cancer are estimated to be due to smoking. The risk of lung cancer development is 20-40 times higher in life-long smokers compared to non-smokers. Environmental cigarette smoke exposure and different types of smoking have been shown to cause pulmonary carcinoma. DNA adducts, the metabolites of smoke carcinogens bound covalently with DNA, are regarded as an indicator of cancer risk in smokers. In recent decades, there has been a shift from squamous and small cell lung cancer types to adenocarcinoma, due to increasing rates of smoking among female population and rising light cigarette usage. After smoking cessation, the cumulative death risk from lung cancer decreases. Patients who continue smoking experience greater difficulties during cancer treatment.

For example, a person who has smoked two packs of cigarettes per day for 10 years has a 20 pack-year smoking history. While the risk of lung cancer is increased with even a 10 pack-year smoking history, those with 30 pack-year histories or more are considered to have the greatest risk for the development of lung cancer. Among those who smoke two or more packs of cigarettes per day, one in seven will die of lung cancer. But even though the risk is higher the more you smoke, there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke.

Stopping smoking may prolong survival in cancer patients, and also decreases the risk of recurrent pulmonary carcinoma. In order to save lives and prevent smoking related hazards, physicians should advise both healthy individuals and those with cancer of the benefits of stopping smoking.

Oncologists from St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou also remind you to seize the day and quit smoking, which is also a worldwidely advocated practice.

*Surgery, in addition to the appropriate chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are effective in treating early cancer, but certain patients in late stage of cancer may not be tolerate surgery well as they can be relatively weak. A combination of carefully planned minimally invasive therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy can effectively reduce the side effects and discomfort of treatment and may help patient get better efficacy.