Fundamentals

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of cancer worldwide. Cigarettes are the predominant form and have been determined to cause at least 20 different types or subtypes of cancer. Other forms of tobacco use are of growing importance worldwide, but they have been less studied than cigarettes.

Although the prevalence of smoking has decreased in most regions of the world, an estimated 1.3 billion people use tobacco products worldwide, and an estimated 2.4 million tobacco-related cancer deaths occur per year.

Reductions in smoking prevalence in high-income countries have substantially reduced the incidence rates of lung cancer and laryngeal cancer in men and younger women.

However, about 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries, where the disease burden from tobacco use continues to increase as a result of population growth and the ageing of long-term, continuing smokers. Even if the age-specific death rates from tobacco-attributable cancers remain the same, the number of people affected by these cancers will increase dramatically because of these demographic changes.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is a public health treaty that has been signed by 181 countries to protect their populations from the dangers of tobacco use. WHO Member States have also pledged to meet the target of a 30% relative reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use by 2025.

Without accelerated progress, tobacco products are projected to cause 1 billion deaths this century, many from cancer.

From: 2.1, Tobacco products

Cover of World Cancer Report
World Cancer Report: Cancer research for cancer prevention.
Wild CP, Weiderpass E, Stewart BW, editors.
© International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2020. For more information contact publications@iarc.who.int.

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