Smokers Make Up 90 Per Cent Of New Lung Cancer Cases

Smokers make up 90 per cent of new lung cancer cases

New research says current and ex-smokers have almost the same rate of lung cancer diagnosis. That is according to a new 10-year cancer audit from St. James's Hospital. There were almost 700 new cases of lung cancer at the hospital in 2012 with smokers and ex-smokers making up 90 percent of the total. Incidents of lung cancer averaged at about 44.5 percent for current smokers and just over 43 percent for ex-smokers. Health Minister James Reilly says the best way to prevent lung cancer is to not take up smoking. "Obviously the sooner you give them up the better, but the best thing of all is never take them up because they're very hard to put down" he said. "I've seen very sad situations when I was a hospital doctor, of people sneaking out to the loo with the little oxygen cylinder on their back; not just putting themselves at risk - but the whole ward". "That's how bad this addiction is, it is extremely difficult to kick; so our message is don't start" he added.