What is the leading cause of lung cancer?

Statistics from the Central Cancer Hospital also showed that the rate of lung cancer patients who smoke is up to 96.8%.

Smokers are 20-40 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers. Therefore, experts recommend that smokers or those who are regularly exposed to cigarette smoke should have a medical check-up to detect lung cancer early.

The ability to cause cancer is not only with cigarettes, but also with tobacco. Dr. Hoang Dinh Chan shared that he once performed surgery on a female patient in Vinh Bao (Hai Phong) and discovered that the patient's lungs were as black as soot from a kitchen, similar to someone who had smoked for many years.

“After finishing the treatment, this female patient confided that she had been smoking tobacco for decades, which is why she got this disease. From this, we can see that not only cigarettes but also tobacco, even if smoked through water filtration, is still very dangerous,” Dr. Chan advised.

Dr. Ta Chi Phuong, MD, said that our country has 15 million actual smokers while 40 million people are exposed to secondhand smoke. In addition, at the workplace, there are 5 million people who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. 2/3 of women and children regularly inhale cigarette smoke at home.

Smokers face the risk of diseases such as lung cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, etc. People living near smokers also face a series of diseases such as cancer in general including lung cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, even affecting the reproductive system and death due to immune system decline.

That is the reason why so many women get lung cancer.

According to Dr. Chan, health check-ups to detect cancer early are not only recommended for smokers but also for those who have quit smoking or are healthy.

“Even if you stop smoking, the harmful effects of cigarettes will still remain in your body for 10-15 years. That is because tar cannot be eliminated from your body,” Dr. Chan warned.

Tar is the residue of cigarette smoke with thousands of chemicals and additives that are sticky and viscous like plastic. When cigarette smoke is inhaled into the lungs, the tar deposits and adheres to the air spaces of the lungs. Over time, the parts covered with tar will cause cancer and lung diseases.

It takes time to eliminate these substances from the body. In fact, Dr. Chan has encountered many cases of illness even though they have quit smoking for more than ten years. “Quitting smoking cigarettes and tobacco is something that needs to be done immediately,” Dr. Chan recommends.

Ha Quyen