Smoking

Smoking 

In 2002, research showed that about 17% of deaths were due to smoking (20% in males and 12% in females)1. Every day, 100 Canadians will die of a smoking-related illness1. Besides cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, smoking can cause certain types of cancer, including lung. 

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of cancer
Smoking is responsible for about 30% of all cancer deaths
Smoking is known to cause or increase one’s risk of developing the following cancers: Lung Cancer, Cancer of the Mouth, Throat (Pharynx), Voice Box (Larynx), and Esophagus, Leukemia, Bladder Cancer, Stomach Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Cervical Cancer
 

The majority of lung cancer cases – about 85% - are directly related to smoking tobacco, particularly cigarettes. About 44% of Canadians (12.6 million) smoke or have quit smoking2. Tobacco smoke contains carcinogens, which are toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that promote cell damage over time. Inhaling smoke also destroys the defence system that keeps harmful substances of the lungs. This is why the risk of lung cancer increases with the number of years and the number of cigarettes a person has smoked. However, there is little known about how much, or for how long, one needs to smoke in order to increase one’s risk of lung cancer. The risk of dying from lung cancer is up to 25 times greater among smokers than people who never smoked, depending on how much they smoked1

Smoking increases lung cancer risk by
Causing genetic changes in the cells of the lungs
Damaging the lungs’ normal cleaning process by which they get rid of foreign and harmful particles
Lodging cancer-causing particles in the mucus and developing into cancer tumours
Second Hand Smoke

Second hand smoke is exhaled into the air when somebody is smoking or when a cigarette, pipe or cigar is burning. It contains the same harmful chemicals that a smoker breaths in. Exposure to tobacco smoke from other people’s cigarettes, pipes, or cigars is a major cause of lung cancer in non smokers. According to the Canadian Cancer society, about 800 Canadian non-smokers die from second hand smoke every year3

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Smoking Cessation

The risk among long-term ex-smokers (i.e. at least 20 years since quitting) is close to the risk of life-long non-smokers. Ten years after quitting smoking, the risk of developing lung cancer is 30-50% lower4
Smoking cessation is a key element in helping reduce lung cancer mortality rates. Since the peak in the cancer mortality rate in Canada in 1988, it is estimated that over 31,000 lung cancer deaths have been avoided5. This is largely reflective of a reduction in smoking among Canadians. 

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(Estimates provided by the 2017 Canadian Cancer Statistics) 
 

It is important that if you develop lung cancer, you stop smoking immediately. Smoking hurts your body’s ability to heal. Your risk of developing complications from your treatment, especially when it includes surgery, is much higher if you continue to smoke. 

Quitting smoking can improve responses to all forms of cancer therapy
Quitting smoking after cancer therapy has been associated with a significantly decreased risk of another primary tumour in the lung
Quitting smoking can help to improve breathing
 

Your healthcare team can put you in touch with many resources and support systems to help you stop smoking. It’s never too late to quit. Be sure to check out the resources below for additional support.
In addition, if you are a heavy smoker there are pilot screening programs that include a smoking cessation component that can help you quit and assess your current lung health. 
If you are a current smoker with lung cancer and are preparing for surgery, please download this infosheet 


Smoking Cessation Resources

National
Ontario
Support to quit Smoking - https://www.ontario.ca/page/support-quit-smoking
STOP Program - https://www.nicotinedependenceclinic.com/en/stop/home
Lung Health Foundation - https://lunghealth.ca/tobacco/
Cancer Care Ontario - https://www.cancercareontario.ca/en/Quitting-Smoking
Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Program - http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/drugs/smoking/
Quitting Smoking – Niagara Region https://www.niagararegion.ca/health/substances/tobacco/quitting-smoking.aspx
Quebec
Tobacco Free Quebec - https://tobaccofreequebec.ca/iquitnow/
Quit to Win Challenge - https://defitabac.qc.ca/en/
The Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking - https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/advice-and-prevention/healthy-lifestyle-habits/smoke-free-lifestyle/the-health-benefits-of-quitting-smoking/
Famille sans fumee - https://famillesansfumee.ca/
Jean Coutu - https://www.jeancoutu.com/en/health/health-tips/do-you-want-to-quit-smoking/
British Columbia
HealthLink BC - https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-feature/quit-smoking
Quitnow.ca - https://www.quitnow.ca/
BC Smoking Cessation Program - https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/pharmacare-for-bc-residents/what-we-cover/bc-smoking-cessation-program
Alberta
Albertaquits.ca https://www.albertaquits.ca/
Myhealth Alberta - https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/Pages/conditions.aspx?hwId=qtsmk
Alberta Health Services - https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page14487.aspx
Manitoba
Quitting Smoking – Province of Manitoba - https://www.gov.mb.ca/health/tobacco/quitting.html
MANTRA Manitoba Tobacco Reducation Alliance - https://www.mantrainc.ca/resources
Cancercare Manitoba - https://www.cancercare.mb.ca/screening/cancer-prevention/quit-smoking-program
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan Health Authority - https://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/your-health/conditions-diseases-services/healthline-online/aa153314
Saskatchewan Health Authority  - https://www.saskatoonhealthregion.ca/locations_services/Services/In-The-Zone
Saskatchewan Cancer Agency - http://www.saskcancer.ca/patients-and-families-alias/tobacco-cessation
Saskatchewan Prevention Institute - https://skprevention.ca/smoking-and-tobacco/
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Health - https://www.nshealth.ca/news/stop-smoking-program-people-living-mental-illness-focuses-peer-support-shared-experience
Tobacco Free Nova Scotia - https://tobaccofree.novascotia.ca/
Quit Smoking Halifax - https://www.quitsmokinghalifax.com/
Smoke Free Kings - https://smokefreekings.org/concerned-about-smoking/
New Brunswick
New Brunswick Anti-Tobacco Coalition - http://nbatc.ca/
Smoking Cessation Therapies - https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/health/MedicarePrescriptionDrugPlan/NBDrugPlan/ForHealthCareProfessionals/SmokingCessationTherapies.html
Breath: How to Quit Smoking - https://nb.lung.ca/protect-your-lungs/smoking/how-quit-smoking
Vitalite - Smoking Cessation Clinic - https://www.vitalitenb.ca/en/points-service/smoking-cessation-clinic-0
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador Smokers’ Helpline - https://smokershelp.net/
Memorial University - Smoking Cessation Program - https://www.mun.ca/pharmacy/community/mtsclinic/scp.php
Newfoundland Labrador – https://www.gov.nl.ca/hcs/files/healthyliving-pdf-pscp-client-brochure.pdf
PEI
"Choose Now" to Quit Smoking - https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/news/choose-now-quit-tobacco
Prince Edward Island Smoking Cessation - https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/sites/default/files/publications/program_booklet_hwpei_3983_smokingcessation.pdf
The Lung Association - https://pei.lung.ca/help-quitting
Territorial
Northwest Territories Quitline - https://www.hss.gov.nt.ca/en/services/nwt-quitline
Quitpath – Yukon - https://www.quitpath.ca/quitting
Nunavut Quits - https://nuquits.gov.nu.ca/home
References 
1 Health Canada “Smoking and Mortality” Canada.ca, Government of Canada, 21 Sept. 2011, https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-concerns/tobacco/legislation/tobacco-product-labelling/smoking-mortality.html
Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. “Recommendations on Screening for Lung Cancer.” CMAJ, CMAJ, 5 Apr. 2016, www.cmaj.ca/content/188/6/425.
“What Is Second-Hand Smoke - Canadian Cancer Society.” Www.cancer.ca, www.cancer.ca/en/prevention-and-screening/reduce-cancer-risk/make-healthy-choices/live-smoke-free/what-is-second-hand-smoke/?region=nl.
4 PDQ Screening and Prevention Editorial Board. “Cigarette Smoking: Health Risks and How to Quit (PDQ®).” PDQ Cancer Information Summaries [Internet]., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 9 Apr. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK66008/.
5 Canadian Cancer Society’s Advisory Committee on Cancer Statistics. Canadian Cancer Statistics 2017. Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society; 2017. Available at: cancer.ca/Canadian-CancerStatistics-2017-EN.pdf