Smoking accounts for 80% of lung cancer deaths in Brazil
A study by researchers from the Cancer Foundation shows that smoking accounts for 80 percent of deaths linked to lung cancer in both men and women in Brazil.
The publication was presented Thursday (May 16) by the foundation at the 48th meeting of the Group for Cancer Epidemiology and Registration in Latin Language Countries Annual Meeting (GRELL 2024), in Switzerland.
In an interview with Agência Brasil, epidemiologist Alfredo Scaff, medical adviser to the Cancer Foundation, said that the study aims to inform societal initiatives to prevent the disease. “Lung cancer is directly related to smoking. Technically, we can say it’s behind the vast majority of cancers we have both in the world and in Brazil today,” he stated.
Electronic cigarettes
Alfredo Scaff believes that electronic cigarettes—or vapes—could contribute to a further expansion in the percentage of lung cancer deaths caused by tobacco. “Electronic cigarettes are a way of introducing young people to the habit of smoking.” The epidemiologist noted that nicotine is the most addictive of all legal drugs. The specialist pointed out that the idea of using electronic cigarettes to stop smoking is controversial because it usually ends up leading to addiction. “It will undoubtedly lead to the development of cancers and other diseases that we didn’t even have,” he added.
Vapes cause a serious and acute lung disease called EVALI, which can lead to death, as well as an additional problem: the battery in these cigarettes can explode and has caused serious burns to many smokers. “It’s a product that has come to worsen the whole smoking landscape.”
Expenses
The study indicates that lung cancer brings about expenditures adding up to BRL 9 billion per year, including treatment, loss of productivity, and patient care. The tobacco industry, on the other hand, covers a mere 10 percent of the total costs of all lung cancer-related diseases in Brazil—some BRL 125 billion a year.
“Smoking doesn’t just cause lung cancer, it leads to the destruction of teeth, oropharyngeal lesions, emphysema [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], high blood pressure, acute myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident [CVA] or stroke. It causes a huge number of other illnesses that directly raise the amounts of public spending in treatment, and indirectly through loss of productivity, social security, as retirements can come early as a result, and so on,” said Scaff.
This year, Brazil’s National Cancer Institute, Inca, estimates there will be 14 thousand cases in women and 18 thousand in men across Brazil. Worldwide data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, analyzed by researchers from the Cancer Foundation, show that, if the pattern of smoking behavior continues, there will be a surge of over 65 percent in the incidence of the disease and 74 percent in lung cancer mortality by 2040 compared to 2022.
The study also reveals that many patients are already at an advanced stage of the disease when they seek treatment. This occurs in both male (63.1%) and female (63.9%) populations. The pattern is repeated across all Brazilian regions.
