t anywhere in your body, including the:5
- Blood (acute myeloid leukemia)
- Colon and rectum
- Kidney and renal pelvis
- Mouth and throat
- Trachea, lung. and bronchus
Smokeless tobacco, such as chewing tobacco, also causes cancer, including cancers of the:7
- Within 5 years of quitting, your chance of getting cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder is cut in half.4
- Ten years after you quit smoking, your risk of dying from lung cancer drops by half.4
If nobody smoked, one of every three cancer deaths in the United States would not happen.4
Screening for Cervical and Colorectal Cancers
Research shows that screening for cervical and colorectal cancers, as recommended, helps prevent these diseases. Screening for cervical and colorectal cancers helps find these diseases at an early, and often highly treatable, stage. CDC offers free or low-cost cervical cancer screening nationwide.2
Health care reform through the Affordable Care Act increases access to cervical and colorectal cancer screening through expanded insurance coverage and eliminating cost-sharing. In addition, CDC’s Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign informs men and women aged 50 years and older about the importance of having regular colorectal cancer screening tests.9
Screening for Lung Cancer
People who have smoked for many years may consider screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT). Talk to your doctor about lung cancer screening and the possible benefits and risks. Lung cancer screening is not a substitute for quitting smoking.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography in adults aged 55 to 80 years who have a 30 pack-year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. Screening should be discontinued once a person has not smoked for 15 years or develops a health problem that substantially limits life expectancy or the ability or willingness to have curative lung surgery.14
The treatment for cancer depends on the type of cancer and the stage of the disease (how severe the cancer is and whether it has spread). Doctors may also consider the patient’s age and general health. Often, the goal of treatment is to cure the cancer. In other cases, the goal is to control the disease or to reduce symptoms for as long as possible. The treatment plan for a person may change over time.7
Most treatment plans include surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. Other plans involve biological therapy (a treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer).3
Some cancers respond best to a single type of treatment. Other cancers may respond best to a combination of treatments.3
For patients who get very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, a stem cell transplant, also known as a bone marrow transplant, may be recommended by their doctor. This is because high-dose therapies destroy both cancer cells and normal blood cells. A stem cell transplant can help the body to make healthy blood cells to replace the ones lost due to the cancer treatment. It’s a complicated procedure with many side effects and risks.12
Quitting smoking improves the outlook (the prognosis) for people with cancer. People who continue to smoke after diagnosis raise their risk for future cancers and death. They are more likely to die from cancer than nonsmokers and are more likely to develop a second (new) tobacco-related cancer.5,13
An ostomy (or stoma) is a surgical opening made to the body that allows waste to be eliminated from the body.10 Ostomies are used in treatment or management of cancer or other diseases.11 Ostomies are needed when the body’s normal opening is closed or altered as part of cancer treatment. An ostomy pouch is located around the opening to collect waste for removal. Ostomies are usually done during the first stages of surgical treatment to remove cancer.10 For colorectal cancer patients, a colostomy (surgical openings from the bowel or colon to the abdomen) can be a lifesaving surgery.10,11 An ostomy can be te