Smoking causes 150 cancer cases every single day in UK, study finds

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Smoking causes 150 cancer cases every day in the UK alone, according to a new study.

While tobacco smoking in the UK and US peaked to about 50 per cent in the 1950s, this had dropped to around 13 per cent in 2020-21 due to control efforts, said the study. However, historically high smoking rates are still a driving factor of the cancer burden in the countries today, it said.

Very high-income countries like the UK are projected to see a 50 per cent increase in cancer cases over the next 50 years, said Cancer Research UK, that funded the study, on Wednesday.

Researchers called on MPs to support raising the age of sale of tobacco products as a critical step to create the first ever smoke-free generation.

“Action on tobacco would have the biggest impact – smoking causes 150 cases of cancer in the UK every single day,” said Ian Walker, executive director of policy and information at Cancer Research UK.

“There are cost-effective tools at hand to prevent cases of cancer, which will save lives around the world.

“Tobacco control measures are chronically underfunded. And as a recognised leader in global health, the UK government can play a significant role in addressing this,” Mr Walker said.

The study also revealed at least 1.3 million people in seven countries die due to cancer caused by smoking tobacco.

The deaths across the UK, US, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa represent over half the world’s annual cancer death burden.

The study analysed the years of life that were wasted to cancer. It also assessed whether certain risk factors caused deaths more prematurely.

Researchers found four preventable risk factors resulted in almost two million deaths combined and over 30 million years of life lost each year.

These factors are smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity and human papillomavirus (HPV) infections.

At least 20.8 million years of life are lost from smoking tobacco alone, found the study.

It also warned new cancer cases could surge by five times, from 0.6 million to 3.1 million per year in low-income countries over the next 50 years.

“These numbers are staggering, and show that with action on a global scale, millions of lives could be saved from preventable cancers,” Mr Walker said.

Researchers also found gender differences in the number of cancer deaths.

Men were observed to have higher rates of years of life lost to smoking and drinking alcohol as these rates tend to be higher in men.

In China, India and Russia, the rates of years of life lost to tobacco smoking and alcohol were up to nine times higher in men than women, found the study.

The research was published in the journal eClinicalMedicine and involved the work of researchers from King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London.