Anatomy of Lung Cancer and Other Dreadful Diseases caused by Smoking

Foreword:  

If you are likely to become upset or offended by viewing images of diseased organs, you should not proceed beyond this point.                 

We decided to create this page because of a large volume of Email to the above web page from visitors who were asking for images of lung cancer and other diseases caused by cigarettes and tobacco products in the belief that viewing such images would be helpful in primary prevention of smoking by family members or would be helpful in smoking cessation attempts.

The images contained in this web page are primarily intended to be used as a core resource by researchers and educators who intend to study the effects of viewing images in primary prevention of cigarettes and tobacco use and smoking cessation in well constructed clinical research protocols.

 

What causes Lung cancer?

Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. It is thought that more then 80% of lung cancer results to smoking. Cigarettes smoke contains more then 4000 different chemicals, many of which are proven carcinogens, while hundred's of others increase the cancer- causing power of carcinogens.

Lung cancer is the malignant transformation and expansion of lung tissue, and is the most lethal of all cancers worldwide, responsible for 1.2 million deaths annually. It is caused predominantly by cigarette smoking, and predominantly affects men, with it being the leading cause of death of men between the ages of 40 and 65. With increased smoking among women, it is now occuring in women but it is less common. While some people who have never smoked do still get lung cancer, this appears to be due to a combination of genetic factors and exposure to secondhand smoke.

Current research indicates that the factor with the greatest impact on risk of lung cancer is long-term exposure to inhaled carcinogens. The most common means of such exposure is air pollution and tobacco smoke.