A large study published in the British Journal of Cancer showed that for women who smoked about 20 cigarettes a day the risks of Hodgkin lymphoma and some bone marrow cancers were doubled. The risks of other types of blood cancer also increased among smokers, but to a lesser degree.
The study included 1.3 million middle-aged women from the Million Women study. Leukemia developed in 9000 women during a 10-year study period. For every 1000 women who never smoked, 6 developed 1 of these cancers. Yet, almost 8 in every 1000 women smokers developed leukemia.
The results add to the existing evidence on the impact of smoking on Hodgkin lymphoma, and it sheds new light on tobacco and its link with other types of lymphoma, leukemia, and cancers of the bone marrow.
Professor Valerie Beral, one of the study authors and director of the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, said: “Smoking raises the risk of many types of cancer, not just lung cancer, and also the risk of heart attack and stroke, which many people may not be aware of.”
A recent survey of the UK public showed that while most people know that tobacco causes cancers of the lung, mouth, and throat, few are aware that smoking is also associated with cancers of the bladder, bowel, cervix, kidney, liver, and pancreas.
Source: Cancer Research UK.