An online article for JAMA Internal Medicine reveals that 48.5% of the almost 346,000 deaths from 12 cancers among adults 35 years and older were attributable to cigarette smoking.

The study estimates that of 345,962 deaths there were 167,805 attributable to smoking cigarettes. The largest proportions of smoking-attributable deaths were for cancers of the lung, bronchus and trachea (125,799, 80.2 percent) and larynx (2,856, 76.6 percent). About half of the deaths from cancers of the oral cavity, esophagus and urinary bladder were attributable to smoking, according to the results, which were reported in a research letter.

“Cigarette smoking continues to cause numerous deaths from multiple cancers despite half a century of decreasing prevalence. … Continued progress in reducing cancer mortality, as well as deaths from many other serious diseases, will require more comprehensive tobacco control, including targeted cessation support,” the study concludes.

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