Nearly 30 percent of U.S. cancer deaths tied to smoking cigarettes

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nearly-30-percent-of-cancer-deaths-tied-to-smoking/

By Ashley Welch CBS News October 24, 2016, 4:06 PM

A startling number of cancer deaths in the United States have one thing in common: they’re linked to smoking.

According to a new report published online today by JAMA Internal Medicine, more than 167,000 cancer deaths in the U.S. in 2014 — almost 29 percent — were attributable to cigarette smoking.

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People living in the South, especially men, were disproportionately affected, with nearly 40 percent of male cancer deaths estimated to be connected to smoking in that region.

Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia had the highest estimated proportion of smoking-attributable cancer deaths in men.

The proportion was lowest in Utah, at nearly 22 percent, while it hit about 30 percent or more in every other state.

For women, the proportion ranged from 11 percent in Utah to 29 percent in Kentucky, and was at least 20 percent in every state except Utah, California, and Hawaii.

They also note that the study likely underestimated tobacco-related cancer deaths because only 12 cancers were included.

Overall, nine out of the top 10 worst states for smoking-attributable cancer deaths for men, and six of the top 10 states for women, were in the South.

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