Dependence of cancer on maternal smoking. Does smoking cause cancer. Methods for early diagnosis of cancer

Lung cancer from smoking is one of the terrible diagnoses, but this type of cancer can be avoided. If you stop smoking in a timely manner, there is an 80% chance that this problem will not occur.

Cancer from smoking is one of the main dangers that potentially awaits all smokers. No matter how the Ministry of Health warns, people who are addicted to nicotine hope or are confident that this diagnosis will bypass them. As a result: smoking destroys hundreds of thousands of lives every year due to oncology, which is rapidly developing both among smokers themselves and among passive smokers.

Statistics

Smoking and lung cancer are directly linked. Every year everyone more people start smoking, which increases the chances of developing the disease.

With heavy smoking, people develop a malignant tumor in every second case.

Many believe that this is a lie, since non-smokers also die from cancer at no less a percentage. But the fact of adaptation in society is taken into account, since cigarette smoke in the air can be inhaled by others, which also provides preconditions for developing diseases. This is one of the main reasons for banning smoking in public places in order to prevent the risk of becoming passive smokers.

Cancer cells are activated by heavy gases entering the lungs and chemical substances contained in a cigarette. Another confirmation that smokers have a risk of getting cancer is the effect of tobacco smoke on DNA. At the genetic cellular level, gradual destruction begins with the first inhalation of cigarette poison. PAHs contained in a cigarette settle in human blood, which causes a kind of mutation that turns a healthy organ cell into a negative counterpart. Such compounds together can form tumors – cancer.

Which organs are at risk?

Scientists are of the opinion that when nicotine is used, oncology of any organs occurs. In current and passive smokers, the lungs, throat, and mouth, especially the tongue, are affected. These affected areas are much less common in those who lead healthy image life.

Studies have proven that cancer from cigarettes appears almost 100% in the lungs. Only half of the percent of patients in this zone are noted who were not smokers. It has also been established that every tenth moderate smoker and every fifth heavy smoker will die due to lung cancer due to smoking. Neoplasms of the lungs, throat, and mouth occur depending on the amount of tobacco consumed, as well as how deeply the tobacco smoke is inhaled. The disease also develops depending on the duration of nicotine use. Some people who start their habit before age 16 die before age 50.

The development of malignant formations in the respiratory tract is associated with the harmful effects of tobacco carcinogens in smoke - this fact has been repeatedly proven by independent studies conducted by specialists around the world.

Probability of occurrence terrible disease depends on the premises directly related to this habit: thus, the number of years of use and the number of cigarettes smoked each day are important. This type of oncology does not depend on environmental conditions, so both those living in big cities and rural residents who inhale smoke are affected.

What is the risk of developing the disease

Increased risk factors are usually identified for different degrees of the disease. But lung cancer due to smoking is a disease that has a single main factor - the influence of smoking. The development of a malignant tumor, as well as the level of risk, is influenced by such signs.

• Carcinogens. Mutating genetic code appears after exposure to a mutagenic factor. There are a large number of these factors: the effect of solar radiation, the influence of plant emissions, exhausts, etc. But these signs of a “poor environmental situation” in modern cities cannot be compared with the individual and most significant risk factors that overshadow the rest: tobacco smoke. During smoking, the human body needs constant renewal of lung tissue cells, since they are the ones that are subject to stress and deteriorate due to the abundance of combustion products. With greater division of lung tissue cells, the risk of mutation increases. After some time, the body will not have the strength to cope with mutant cells, since it does not have the built-in function of intensive renewal. The immune system stops recognizing the rapid flow of anomalies, which means that the tumor begins to develop rapidly. This is how smoking causes cancer.
• Weakening immune system. Not every smoker develops cancer, since immunity plays an important role. Thus, we can conclude that in to a greater extent Cancer is worse for older people. At the same time, smokers undermine their immunity due to the harmful effects of smoke. People who inhale smoke doom themselves to the occurrence of cancer cells. In this case, mutagenesis is provoked, which means that the body is not able to fight. Smoking causes lung cancer depending on the length of time: the immune system weakens and the risk of the disease increases. Therefore, people who smoke more than 15 cigarettes a day rarely live to see retirement.

Scientists also began to evaluate factors such as heredity.

In the development of other types of oncology, hereditary predisposition plays an important role, but lung cancer does not apply here. According to statistics, in this case everything is clear: in 85% of cases, this disease begins due to smoking. The remaining percentage refers to people forced to work in hazardous work. The main reason is still damage to the respiratory organs due to prolonged exposure to a damaging mutagenic factor. The small role of hereditary prerequisites in the onset of cancer development began to be noticed over the past few years, when the proportion of women suffering from this disease increased - the number of smokers increased in direct proportion.

Symptoms

Smoking leads to the formation of cancer - a disease that is not only serious, but also insidious. Long time the sick person does not see or feel the symptoms of the lesion until the penultimate or final stage occurs, when health care and surgery offers little chance of recovery. However, cancer from smoking has the first signs.

1. The smoker coughs a lot. Most often, this is the only symptomatology at an early stage of oncology. This sign is ignored because cough occurs in most people who have smoked for more than 5 years. If you have a frequent suffocating cough, you should consult a specialist. This is especially true when the sputum has bloody streaks.
2. Colds become more frequent. Smokers have a weakened immune system, so they often develop infectious diseases. You should panic if you experience bronchitis for a month, which is difficult to treat. It is necessary to count the number of disease situations per year. If this amount exceeds significantly 5 times, you need to go to the hospital.
3. Chest pain. This symptom occurs in half of cancer patients. If there is no pain, but there are other signs, you need to consult a doctor. This occurs due to the fact that the lung tissues lack nerve endings, therefore appeared pain syndrome speaks of an affected pleura, which warns of pathological processes moderate severity. In addition, pain in this part of the body can signal heart pathologies.
4. At general weakness intoxication of the body is noted. This general signs the appearance of a malignant formation: a person loses weight, gets tired quickly, and signs of anemia appear. These symptoms appear more clearly in the final stages, so you cannot trust the general good health if there are other signs indicated above.
5. Other organs are affected. Oncology is often diagnosed by metastases that appear due to a malignant tumor. A cancer cell can move through the lymph through the entire body, so it is almost impossible to determine the likelihood of abnormalities in certain organs. In 40% of smokers, they die from other types of tumor, however, the primary source is considered to be lung cancer, which was not diagnosed in a timely manner.

Every person, regardless of desires or reluctances to part with a bad habit, must take into account: the chances of recovering from a disease increase if it is diagnosed in time. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgical intervention, in parallel or separately, is considered effective way fight against malignant tumor.

In this way, you can extend more than several decades. The statistics are inexorable: patients who began to be treated early stages, come back to normal full life in 78% of cases. If you ignore the signs and refuse treatment, then after identifying the disease, you can die in less than 2 years.

Preventive actions

The effect of smoking on lung cancer has long been proven. This is the main risk of malignancy in the organ. But not everything is so bad: the human body is capable of independently compensating for the damage caused if the pathology of tumor development has not been started, and the mutagenic effect of many substances ceases. In other words, to minimize the risk of a cancerous tumor appearing in the lungs, you need to give up your addiction in time. Experts have proven that after less than 10 years of starting a healthy lifestyle, the possibility of developing cancer in a former smoker is halved. And after 20 years, the risks are so minimized that the body’s condition will be at the level of a person who has never smoked.

Oncological diseases occupy one of the first places among other human ailments. Lung cancer is the biggest health problem around the world. Cancer kills everything internal organs both systems and respiratory organs are no exception.

Statistical information

According to statistics, today the number smoking people is more than 1.2 billion worldwide, i.e., a third of the planet's population smokes.

More than 60% of men smoke, and 15% of women smoke. Many people start smoking at school.

Tobacco smoke contains a large number of toxins and poisons, including polycyclic carbohydrates. Toxic substances such as aromatic amines, benzopyrene, naphthylamine, aminobiphenyl, benzene, phenol and many others are part of cigarettes, so smoking and lung cancer are closely related.

Causes of oncology

To understand why cancer occurs, it is necessary to understand what cancer is and what causes the development of malignant tumors.

The human body is a living system that consists of cells. Cells in our body are constantly growing and dividing to replace those that are damaged or aged. In about 7–10 years, all the cells of the body are completely renewed. And if this mechanism breaks down, uncontrolled cell division and growth occurs, which leads to cancer.

All known factors that provoke cancer can be combined into three groups:

• physical (radiation, ultraviolet radiation, etc.);
• chemical (carcinogens);
• biological (viruses).

There are also internal reasons the occurrence of cancer, which primarily includes hereditary predisposition.

All of them initially lead to damage to the DNA structure, which usually results in oncogene activation.

If the immune system is in order, then it will resist the growth of tumor cells for a long time and will prevent it from getting out of control for a long period. And most often, bad cells die due to the active struggle of the body. But sometimes the immune system stops recognizing defective cells or simply does not have time to cope with their number. It is impossible to fully say why the immune system fails, but we can be sure that the wrong cells are multiplying, which provokes the development of malignant neoplasm, and the tumor leads to cancer.

Risk factors

All diseases have factors that provoke the development of the disease. Mostly, oncology from smoking provokes the development of cancer of internal organs.

People who smoke are at risk because their body is exposed to the following factors:

1. The influence of carcinogens. Mutations in DNA do not start just like that, but under the influence mutagenic factors. This list is long: radiation from the sun, exhaust gases, etc. However, the environment does not have such a strong influence on the formation of diseases, compared to smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke. In addition to nicotine, tobacco smoke contains several dozen toxic and carcinogenic substances that poison the smoker’s body.
2. Weak immunity. The stronger the immune system, the greater the chance that the body will defeat the tumor, which is why oncology is a disease of older people. But since smokers weaken their immunity with the help of cigarettes, they have every chance of developing lung cancer and other cancers. Smoking history and the number of cigarettes smoked per day play an important role in the development of diseases.
3. Hereditary predisposition does not play a big role in lung cancer. The disease develops in 90% of cases only due to the harmful habit of smoking. 10% of the sick are those people who work in hazardous industries. The hereditary factor acts only in cases of tumors of the breast, intestines and genitourinary system, and lung cancer develops only due to smoking.

There are a number of diseases that cause cancer. These include:

• Alcoholism is accompanied by the formation in the body of the drinker of a large amount of acetaldehyde, which is a potential carcinogen. People who abuse alcohol often develop cancer of the gastrointestinal tract;
• the herpes virus provokes cervical cancer;
• The Epstein-Barr virus provokes the development of lymphogranulomatosis, cancer of the throat and nose.

To date, statistics do not provide accurate data that smoking causes breast cancer. Tobacco smoke does not directly interact with this organ. But in women who smoke, this disease manifests itself much more often than in those who do not have this harmful habit. Smoking lovers weaken their immune system.

The first signal that a woman is sick is the presence of a lump in the breast. If symptoms are detected, you must urgently seek help from specialists. Women over 40 years of age are most susceptible to breast cancer.

Lung cancer is caused by smoking and is the most common disease in the world. It is formed on the epithelium of the bronchi. Recognize the disease by initial stage practically impossible, since it proceeds without visible signs. It is necessary to do fluorography once a year. As the disease progresses, a cough appears, sometimes with blood and strong pain in the chest.

There are several types of lung cancer.

1. Central - the neoplasm appears in the large bronchi. Over time, the neoplasms progress to the next, peripheral, form, which cannot be cured. Symptoms of the central form of lung cancer are shortness of breath, cough, possibly with blood. As well as chest pain, weakness and fever.
2. Peripheral lung cancer appears in the small bronchi and lung tissue. As a result, a large number of lesions form on the lungs. At the initial stage, the peripheral form of cancer passes without symptoms. After a while, cough, fever, chest pain, darkening of the eyes and shortness of breath appear.

Both types lead to fatal outcome, there is practically no chance of curing the disease.

Bowel and genitourinary cancer

Bowel cancer and Bladder have nothing to do with smoking. However, such diseases are more common in people who smoke. The mucous membranes of these organs collect all the poisons and toxins contained in tobacco smoke. Toxic substances cause cell mutation, and eventually the cells die. A malignant tumor can develop in any human organ.

Symptoms of bowel and bladder cancer depend on the stage of the tumor. At the initial stage, the disease passes without any visible signs.

More people worldwide die from lung cancer than from any other type of cancer. This disease is insidious in that in the early stages it may not manifest itself in any way. But when the disease is discovered, it is already at the stage when nothing can be done. Therefore, unlike some other types of cancer, lung cancer usually leads to death.

To prevent lung cancer and other diseases, long-term programs are being developed and implemented at the state level aimed at combating air pollution, improving work and living conditions. And there is also a fight against smoking: limiting the places where smoking is allowed, prohibiting the advertising of tobacco products. A healthy lifestyle is promoted among young people, and programs for the development of physical education and sports are implemented.

If a person can quit smoking, he has a chance to reduce the risk of cancer cells. Sport, proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle will help a person live normally and not get sick. Besides all that has been said, there are a few more recommendations:

• It is not advisable to quit smoking abruptly, as the person experiences extreme stress. At any moment he can break down and smoke again, but the number of cigarettes can increase greatly.
• During the period of gradual cessation of cigarettes, it is necessary to choose tobacco products with minimal nicotine and tar content - such information is on every pack of cigarettes.
• If a person decides to quit smoking, he should spend more time in the fresh air, play sports, run or walk.
• It is necessary to eat properly, preferably eating foods with natural fats.
• Regularly monitor your body weight: if your weight starts to increase, you need to go on a diet.

If a person has a desire to stop smoking, but lacks the willpower, then you can use help experienced doctors. They will examine the patient and select the appropriate addiction treatment method.

Conclusion

Smoking is a bad habit that affects almost every second person. Everyone knows about the consequences of smoking, but not everyone has the willpower to quit smoking. Not all cancers end badly, but the insidiousness of lung cancer lies in the fact that it is practically incurable and does not manifest itself in the early stages. Smokers should remember this, reconsider their lifestyle and take action before it is too late.

What causes cancer? According to the tabloids, almost everything. Red meat, toilet cleaners, cell phone masts... But these threatening theories are not scientifically confirmed, and you can only believe in them if you really want to. The only exception is cigarettes. They definitely cause cancer. The connection between these things and lung cancer has been confirmed by numerous scientific research carried out in different places at different times. The mortality rate from cancer is one of the highest.

Almost half a century has passed since the US Surgeon General said that scientists had irrefutably proven the harm of smoking and its connection with lung cancer. And despite this, next to any institution, be it a pub, a supermarket or even a hospital, there is a bunch of puffers who cannot overcome themselves and stop. Contradiction is what destroys them.

“About 80% of lung cancer cases are associated with past or present smoking,” says University College London professor Sam Janes. “So public education on this issue is necessary.”

The problem is that people start smoking when they are young, when they think they will live forever. When their opinion changes with age, it is usually too late, because smoking is addictive, cigarette manufacturers know what to do to get them hooked.

Yes, we are not talking about other factors affecting health now. After all, the media speculates on the harm of everything, from sugar in tea to a sedentary lifestyle. But cigarettes are still more dangerous, believe me. When combined with any of the known evils, their deadly effect is multiplied by two. That is why the lion's share of advertising of tobacco products has been removed from the airwaves and from the pages of printed publications. That is why the authorities stopped sponsoring sporting events by cigarette corporations. (Remember Formula 1 cars painted with cigarette brands?) Although in fairness it is worth noting that this is the minimum of everything that can be done in the context of the fight against smoking.

Their field of play is the whole world. Social networks collect donations for anything except the fight against smoking: people are not interested in fighting something that is slowly destroying it - it’s not fashionable. On the one hand, smokers themselves are to blame for ignoring known facts and warnings, so there seems to be no point in caring about them. However, it is high time to leave this medieval approach and live in the 21st century.

As Professor Janes notes, “almost half of smokers with lung cancer were diagnosed after quitting the habit, and one in five with such a diagnosis never smoked at all.” This is partly due to the fact that diagnosing the disease is still difficult. Smokers always cough, so this main symptom does not help recognize the danger. But with any oncology, time is of paramount importance. “Other symptoms usually appear when the disease has spread and becomes difficult to treat,” Jaynes says. “Around four out of every five patients are diagnosed when treatment is no longer possible, so we encourage people to see a doctor if they have any concerns.”

Some smokers have switched to electronic cigarettes, which provide the body with nicotine without the harmful tars found in tobacco smoke. But scientists say that in mixtures for electronic cigarettes It has its own harmful components, the effect of which on the body has not yet been studied at all, and no one knows what diseases they can lead to.

In addition to the most obvious, there are other recommendations. A balanced diet with a large percentage of vegetables and fruits, an active lifestyle and regular exercise stress. If the specifics of your work require the use of a respirator, be sure to wear one.

Treatment methods for lung cancer are gradually progressing. Janes' lab will soon begin testing a combination of gene therapy and stem cell therapy. He also expects the development computed tomography will allow diagnosis at an early stage.

Everyone knows very well that addiction to cigarettes has an extremely negative impact on human health. modern people. But the majority of ordinary smokers still have very little information about what kind of toxic mix they actively inhale almost every hour. And speaking about what specific substances in tobacco smoke lead to the development of diseases, most cigarette lovers will only remember nicotine and tar.

In fact, when a cigarette smoulders, several thousand are released into the surrounding air. toxic substances, about 70 of them are extremely dangerous carcinogens. To one of the most sad consequences Doctors attribute smoking to oncology. The formation of cancerous tumors in smokers is caused by a number of mutagens that are part of tobacco smoke. Doctors have found that smoking provokes the development of about 17 types of cancer. This fact is worth talking about in more detail.

Smoking leads to the development of cancer in almost 90% of cases.

When a cigarette smoulders, a huge amount of chemicals are actively released.. Some of them are quite safe for humans, but there are a number of formations that are deadly.

It has been established that if you smoke a pack of cigarettes every day for a year, a number of irreversible processes begin in the human body - the cells of the larynx and lungs begin to mutate.

To understand why smoking causes cancer, it is worth learning more about the composition of tobacco smoke. The table below lists the most dangerous toxic elements, which become the culprits of irreversible mutagenic processes.

According to recent estimates, it has been established that each cigarette, when lit, produces about 4,000 harmful substances in the surrounding air. Of these, 400 are toxic, and 43 belong to the class of carcinogens. Doctors consider the following compounds to be compounds that directly cause oncological processes:

• chromium;
• nickel;
• lead;
• cadmium;
• benzene;
• arsenic;
• saltpeter;
• nicotine;
• benzopyrene;
• vinyl chloride;
• formaldehyde;
• 2-naphthylamine;
• aminobiphenyl;
• hydrocyanic acid;
• N-Nitrosopyrrolidine;
• N-Nitrosodiethanolamine;
• N-NITROSODIETHYLAMINE.

How cancer develops in smokers

The human lungs are made up of many tiny sacs (alveoli). These formations are covered with a special tissue, the work of which is to block the entry of bacteria and harmful compounds and their timely evacuation from the body. The constant intake of carcinogens and tobacco smoke compounds into the lungs leads to the death of the protective layer of the epithelium.

Cancer is caused by carcinogens, which large quantities contained in tobacco smoke

All harmful substances begin to gradually be deposited on the walls of the lungs and enter the blood. As soon as the concentration of toxic components and carcinogens in the blood exceeds the maximum permissible norm, oncological processes begin to develop in the smoker’s body. It is difficult to say exactly when a smoker will cross the fatal line - a lot depends on physiological characteristics person.

Carcinogens are the culprits of oncology

Carcinogenic substances tend to accumulate in human body. They can be called a “ticking bomb”. It is noted that they are most actively stored in such organs as:

• liver;
• intestines;
• epidermis;
• thyroid;
• respiratory system.

Doctors identify a separate risk group; people who are friends with cigarettes are the most likely to become acquainted with oncology. These are the following points:

1. Poor, poor quality food.
2. Work in hazardous production.
3. Living in areas with unfavorable ecology.
4. Undertreated inflammatory processes in the body, which have passed into the chronic stage.

Most common diseases

Carcinogens can cause cancer in almost any organ. Accumulated in the body for years, they actively destroy cell chromosomes, which leads to changes in DNA structure and the appearance of cellular mutations. As a result, the cell turns into cancer. According to medical statistics, the most common types of cancer among long-term cigarette addicts are:

1. Lip cancer. It is one of the ten most common oncological processes, occurring in 7–8% of all cases of diseases of this kind.
2. Lung cancer from smoking, statistics speak of him as a leader in oncology. It accounts for about 56–60% of cases of oncological processes.
3. Trachea (throat) cancer. It is most common among male smokers and accounts for 35–40% of all recorded cases.
4. Stomach cancer. According to medical statistics, about 10% of men and 12% of women among other cancer patients die annually from this pathology.

Lip cancer (squamous cell carcinoma)

This is one of the most dangerous and serious oncological processes. It most often develops on the lower part of the lips and has the appearance of a red border protruding beyond the edges, covered with cracks and ulcers. Lip cancer develops especially quickly from heavy smoking. Among smokers, doctors note the following situations as having the greatest predisposition to this type of cancer:

• heredity;
• temperature burns;
• frequent injury to the mucous membrane;
• infectious diseases of the oral cavity.

Lip cancer is a common form of cancer in smokers

The development of an oncological process on the lips takes quite a long time. for a long time. But the disease can be managed, subject to timely diagnosis, quitting smoking and proper therapy. The symptoms that should alert a cigarette addict and prompt a visit to the doctor are as follows:

• burning and itching;
• increased salivation;
• unpleasant, painful sensations when eating;
• the appearance of long-term non-healing cracks and ulcers;
• the formation of roughness in the affected area;
• soreness in the area of ​​the mucous membrane of the lips and upper border.

Lung cancer (adenocarcinoma)

A malignant formation of this type is based on the development of tumors on the mucous part of the bronchi or lungs. The main culprit of the cancer process is long-term smoking.

According to statistics, addiction to cigarettes for a long time in 80% of cases leads to the appearance of oncological processes in the lungs.

The chance of becoming closely acquainted with this deadly disease is directly proportional to the number of cigarettes consumed per day and the total smoking experience. It has been established that when smoking one pack of cigarettes per day, the risk of developing adenocarcinoma increases by 30–60%. Moreover, even after completely quitting smoking, these numbers will decrease only after 15–16 years.

Symptoms of lung cancer appear when the disease has already taken root in the body.

Lung cancer is distinguished by its insidiousness. A person may not suspect the onset of cancer for a long time. You can suspect something is wrong based on the following symptoms:

• complete loss of appetite;
• difficulty breathing;
• cough lasting more than a month;
• constant extreme fatigue and weakness;
• separation of sputum with blood streaks;
• rapid weight loss (up to 6–7 kg per week);
• pain when breathing, which increases when trying to cough.

These signs are the very first symptoms of the disease. There are a number of other symptoms that indicate adenocarcinoma, but they are not so common:

• hoarseness of voice;
• swelling of the neck and face;
• difficulty swallowing (even water);
• pain in the sternum, radiating to the subcostal region.

Tracheal oncology (squamous cell carcinoma)

This is a serious oncological disease that develops on the mucous tissue of the larynx and pharynx. Very often, cancers grow into nearby tissues and form secondary lesions.

According to statistics, the most common cases of throat cancer are among smoking men over the age of 40; the risk of developing the disease is especially high among alcohol abusers.

Often the onset of oncology is preceded by a frequently occurring and already developing chronic stage laryngitis (a constant companion of smokers). Working in hazardous industries and living in poor environmental conditions also increases the chance of encountering this disease. The severity of the signs and the brightness of their manifestation depends on the location of the tumor.

Laryngeal cancer most often affects men

Doctors list the most common symptoms of throat cancer as:

• hoarseness of voice;
• difficulty swallowing;
• prolonged dry cough;
• bloody streaks when coughing and sneezing;
• unpleasant, putrid odor of the oral cavity;
• constant sore throat (in the absence of a cold).

Gastric oncology (gastric adenocarcinoma)

Oncology of this type is characterized by a tendency to rapid progression and metastasis to other organs of the gastrointestinal tract. Cancer, growing through the gastric walls, is located in small intestine and pancreas. This process is accompanied by necrosis and subsequent internal bleeding. With the help of the bloodstream, cancer cells metastasize to the liver, lungs, and massively affect the lymph nodes.

Stomach cancer can quickly metastasize to nearby organs

Smoking and stomach cancer are true companions of each other. This type of oncology is one of the most common among active smokers. According to statistics, about 800,000 people die every year from gastric adenocarcinoma.

The insidiousness of the pathology lies in its rapid and sometimes unnoticeable development for the patient. Obvious symptoms are felt already during the process of stages II and III. At this stage, a person begins to be bothered by such manifestations as:

• heaviness after eating;
• decreased appetite and rapid weight loss;
• nausea and vomiting immediately after eating;
• severe problems with swallowing;
• pain in the epigastric region (medium and top part abdomen, under the ribs).

This deadly process can be stopped and a person can be completely cured if the pathology is diagnosed in time and treated immediately. But often the patient seeks help too late, joining the ranks of the sad statistics of cancer victims.

What conclusions do we have?

Not only heavy and long-term smoking can lead a person to the emergence of deadly oncological processes. Cancer occurs for a number of other reasons. But, by assessing and studying statistical indicators, smoking is guaranteed to be among the favorite culprits of these processes. You should know and remember this always when your hand reaches out to open a cigarette pack.

Remember that every smoke break brings a person closer to the moment when the whole meaning of a smoker’s life becomes the struggle for own life and saving health. And in order not to bring yourself to a fatal situation, you should make every attempt to forget about smoking forever.

In contact with

Lung cancer from smoking occurs when a person has a genetic predisposition to developing tumors. In addition to malignant processes, smoking can provoke and aggravate many other diseases of the respiratory system.

Every year, about 1 million cases of lung cancer are diagnosed worldwide. In most patients, tumors are detected at stages 3-4 and are complicated by concomitant pathologies.

History of research into the relationship between smoking and cancer incidence

Even at the end of the 18th century, doctors noted that smoking causes health problems, in particular heart and lung disease. But smoking in those days was not very widespread; it was mainly the elite who smoked. Tumors in the lungs were very rare.

Tumor incidence respiratory tract increased in the first half of the twentieth century. This happened in connection with the invention of the cigarette-making machine and the widespread use of bad habit. The relationship between smoking and lung cancer was first established by L. Adler in 1912. Then S. Fletcher and his students published works in which, using mathematical calculations, they demonstrated changes in a person’s life expectancy depending on smoking experience.

Modern scientists have found that tobacco smoke entering the lungs with one puff contains 10 15 free radicals and 4700 chemical compounds. These particles are so small that they pass freely through the alveolar-capillary membrane, damaging the blood vessels of the lungs. They provoke inflammation and affect the DNA of dividing cells, resulting in cancer.

According to statistics, men get lung cancer 8-9 times more often than women. Smoking is recognized as one of the main factors provoking the growth of tumors. In addition to tobacco smoke, the causes of the development of the disease are air pollution and work in harmful conditions.

Mechanism of oncogenesis

Normal cells contain DNA sequences similar to viral oncogenes - proto-oncogenes, which are capable of turning into active oncogenes. Lung cancer from nicotine develops when the gene that suppresses oncogene amplification is damaged. Benzopyrene, formaldehyde, urethane, polonium-210, which are part of tobacco smoke, also have a pronounced carcinogenic effect. Under the influence of chemical compounds in tobacco smoke, the number of proto-oncogenes and their activity increase and the cell is transformed into a tumor cell. The synthesis of oncoproteins is triggered, which:

• stimulate uncontrolled cell proliferation,
• prevent apoptosis - programmed cell death,
• cause disruption of the cell cycle,
• block contact inhibition - the property of cells to inhibit division when in contact with each other.

The target cells that transform into cancer cells are Clara cells - epithelial cells lacking cilia. Most Clara cells are found in the lower respiratory tract. Tumors that develop as a result of tobacco smoking are most often poorly differentiated bronchopulmonary carcinomas.

For malignant tumors characterized by invasive growth with damage to surrounding normal tissue. Benign tumors pushes aside healthy tissues without damaging them. Neoplasms affect metabolism and cause multiple complications: pain, pulmonary hemorrhage, dysfunction external respiration.

Tobacco smoke causes local inflammation. Tissue phagocytes migrate from the lumen of blood vessels to the foci of inflammation. The level of pro-inflammatory mediators increases. At the same time, the phagocytic activity of immune system cells decreases, making smokers more susceptible to infectious diseases respiratory tract.

Health effects of passive smoking

Lung cancer in non-smokers occurs due to regular passive inhalation of tobacco smoke. But it is difficult to assess the difference between the effects of active and passive smoking on the body, due to the fact that the smoke exhaled by a smoker and the smoke emitted by a cigarette differ significantly in composition. In addition, smoke, spreading in the environment, changes its properties. Nevertheless passive smoking increases the likelihood of tumor formation and the development of other diseases of the respiratory system.

Other causes of lung cancer in non-smokers:

• genetic predisposition,
• influence of industrial carcinogens,
• disease with other types of cancer,
• infection with human papillomavirus,
• exposure to radiation,
• long-term residence in large industrial centers.

According to scientists, in 15-20% of cases, lung cancer is caused by air pollution from industrial emissions and car exhaust gases. A high incidence of the disease is observed among people working in difficult and hazardous conditions. Among the industrial substances that cause lung cancer, the most dangerous are: asbestos, mustard gas, beryllium, halogen ethers, arsenic and chromium compounds, polycyclic aromatic carbohydrates. Among agricultural workers, people who are constantly in contact with pesticides are at risk.

How long do you need to smoke to get lung cancer?

In people who have smoked for less than 10 years, the incidence of lung cancer increases slightly compared to non-smokers. But after 20 years of smoking, the rate increases by 10 times, after 30 years - by 20, after 45 years - by almost 100. Great importance has the number of cigarettes smoked.

According to the American Cancer Society, which monitored 200 thousand people for 7 years, it became known that the incidence of tumors is:

• for non-smokers - 3.4 cases per 100 thousand people;
• for those who smoke less than 1 pack of cigarettes per day - 51.4 per 100 thousand;
• for those who smoke 1-2 packs of cigarettes per day - 143.9 per 100 thousand;
• for heavy smokers who smoke more than 2 packs a day - 217.3 per 100 thousand.

In addition to the number of cigarettes smoked, the appearance of neoplasms is influenced by physiological and anatomical features person, his age, lifestyle, condition environment and other factors.

The earlier a person starts smoking, the more likely they are to get lung cancer.. Even a small amount of cigarettes smoked during adolescence not only increases the likelihood of disease, but also inhibits the development of the respiratory tract. Smoking adolescents exhibit obstruction of small bronchioles and dysfunction of external respiration. People who start smoking at the age of 15 have a 5 times higher chance of developing cancer than people who start smoking after 25. In girls, the consequences of early smoking are more pronounced than in boys.