Thank you for pointing that out to me @bkcunningham. It was very interesting article. Also, you have me wondering what time frame is used when considering a person to be a former smoker. My oncologist wasn’t too concerned when he asked me if I had smoked and I told him my history. I haven’t smoked for over 9 years now, and when I did smoke it was on and off for about 15 years. I was never a pack a day smoker, but I grew up in a household with a mom who smoked a pack a day. The number of pack-years is used in determining which people are more at risk for lung cancer.
I don’t think the reason lung cancer is the biggest loser in cancer research funding is because some feel that it is self-inflicted. Smoking causes many other cancers, not just lung cancer. Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in the body. Smoking causes cancer of the mouth, nose, throat, voicebox (larynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, blood, and bone marrow (acute myeloid leukemia). source
@ETpro Lung cancer isn’t something Big Tobacco wants us talking about. That makes the most sense to me. :(