Tobacco related cancers

The good news in trends cancer morbidity related to smoking has been the drop in lung cancer among men in Finland. The incidence of lung cancer has dropped in line with the reduction from the 1960s to 1980s by about a half of the numbers of men who smoked.

This trend is predicted to continue over the next decade, as smoking related cancers mirror the prevalence of smoking by several decades. The trend in lung cancer incidence among women in Finland has been increasing and is expected to do so. This, in turn, reflects the rise in the numbers of women smokers since the 1980s.

The increase in lung cancer among women is expected to be relatively small in comparison to the other Nordic countries. Lung cancer rates among men and women in Finland are close to the world average, and, for instance, much lower than in the US.

Other tobacco related ‘primary sites’ include cancer of the larynx, oesophagus, pharynx, mouth and tongue, bladder, pancreas, and kidney.

A new Nordic research study has identified variations in the cancer risks associated with different professions.   The greatest risks of cancer in Nordic men are found among male serving staff. They have of the highest relative risk of several forms of cancer - affecting the larynx, mouth, liver, tongue, lungs, bladder and rectum.

On the other hand, agricultural workers are the least affected by lung, liver, mouth and tongue cancers.

Lung cancer among women is six times more prevalent among machine operators than among agricultural workers.

The study covers the 15 million people aged 30-64 years in the 1960, 1970, 1980/1981 and/or 1990 censuses in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and the 2.8 million incident cancer cases diagnosed in these people in a follow-up until about 2005.