How do smokers get lung cancer

Lung cancer statistics. International Agency for Research on Cancer. Skip to main content. How does smoking cause cancer? Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK, and worldwide.

Harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke affect the entire body — not just our lungs. And smoking causes at least 15 different cancer types. There is no safe level of smoking - stopping completely is the best thing you can do for your health, and there are many support and quitting options available. Cigarette smoke releases over chemicals and many of these are harmful - we know at least 70 can cause cancer. The harmful chemicals enter our lungs and spread around the entire body. If you were a heavy smoker, especially if you started at a young age or smoked for a long time, you should have annual lung cancer screenings for at least 15 years, says Lang.

These tests involve low-dose computed tomography scans which use X-rays to take detailed pictures of the lungs. However, due to the small amount of radiation they emit, the scans themselves have a slight cancer risk. You should discuss your smoking habits, family history and the potential need for screening with your doctor.

Learn more about the Lung Cancer Program. Lung cancer happens when cells in the lung mutate or change. Various factors can cause this mutation a permanent change in the DNA sequence of a gene to happen.

Most often, this change in lung cells happens when people breathe in dangerous, toxic substances. Even if you were exposed to these substances many years ago, you are still at risk for lung cancer. Talk to your doctor if you have been exposed to any of the substances listed below and take steps to reduce your risk and protect your lungs. Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. It causes about 90 percent of lung cancer cases.

Tobacco smoke contains many chemicals that are known to cause lung cancer. If you still smoke, quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do for your lung health. Smokers are not the only ones affected by cigarette smoke.

If you are a former smoker, your risk is decreased, but has not gone away completely—you can still get lung cancer. Nonsmokers also can be affected by smoking. Breathing in secondhand smoke puts you at risk for lung cancer or other illnesses. Learn more about how to stop smoking or how to help a loved one quit. Radon exposure is the second-leading cause of lung cancer. Cancers can be caused by DNA changes that turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes.

Changes in many different genes are usually needed to cause lung cancer. Some people inherit DNA mutations changes from their parents that greatly increase their risk for developing certain cancers.

But inherited mutations alone are not thought to cause very many lung cancers. Still, genes do seem to play a role in some families with a history of lung cancer. Some people seem to inherit a reduced ability to break down or get rid of certain types of cancer-causing chemicals in the body, such as those found in tobacco smoke.

This could put them at higher risk for lung cancer. Researchers are developing tests that may help identify such people, but these tests are not yet used routinely. For now, doctors recommend that all people avoid tobacco smoke and other exposures that might increase their cancer risk.