Smokers at double risk of developing cancer

Washington, Feb 2 (UNI) Smokers beware! You run double the risk of developing cancer than who don't use the cancer stick.

A new study has found that smoke blowers had a high a two-fold increased risk of developing colorectal polyps, the suspected underlying cause of most colorectal cancers (CRC).

The results from this meta-analysis showed pooled risk estimates of 2.14 for current versus never smokers, 1.82 for ever versus never smokers and 1.47 for former versus never smokers.

Inveterate smokers had a 13 per cent increasing risk of polyps for every additional 10 pack-years smoked in comparison to never smokers.

''While the harmful health effects of tobacco smoking are well known, blowing rings has not been considered so far in the stratification of patients for CRC screening. Our findings could support lowering the recommended age for smokers to receive colorectal cancer screening,'' said Albert B. Lowenfels, MD, senior author of the study, from New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York.

The study, published in journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, was performed at the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy where the lead author, Edoardo Botteri, performed the analysis based on the combined evidence from 42 independent observational studies.

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