Lung Cancer Mortality Patterns Associated With Tobacco Use in the United States

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally, and the association between tobacco use and lung cancer is well recognized: smoking cigarettes accounts for approximately 85% of all lung cancer cases. Further, tobacco use remains a prevalent issue despite public health efforts to reduce its use. An estimated 14% of the US adult population are current smokers. The results of a study that aimed to investigate the relationship between tobacco use and lung cancer in order to better establish public health interventions and policies to reduce its burden were presented at the ESMO Congress 2023.

The researchers used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Multiple Cause of Death database (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision codes) to identify all Caucasian, Black, Asian, and American Indian patients with a history of tobacco use who died of lung cancer between 1999 and 2020 in the United States. Results showed there were 1,084,140 deaths due to lung cancer among individuals with a history of tobacco use (age-adjusted mortality, 144.6 per 1,000,000 persons [PMP]). The researchers identified a total of 970,370 Caucasian; 96,001 Black; 11,279 Asian; and 6490 American Indian deaths in each population. Total age-adjusted mortality increased by 782% in Caucasian individuals (19.5 PMP in 1999 to 152.4 PMP in 2020), 575% in Black individuals (21.2 PMP in 1999 to 121.9 in 2020), 724% in Asian individuals (5.0 PMP in 1999 to 36.2 in 2020), and 351% in American Indian individuals (27.2 PMP in 1999 to 95.5 PMP in 2020).

The researchers concluded that their study’s results “show a significant and consistent rise in the mortality rates of tobacco-related lung cancer among all ethnicities, ranging from 351% in American Indians to 782% in Caucasians. These findings emphasize the urgent need for effective public health interventions and policies that can address the destructive impact of tobacco use on lung cancer mortality across all racial groups in the [United States].”

Source: Bugazia S. Lung cancer mortality patterns of tobacco users in the United States: a 21-year analysis (1999-2020). Abstract of a poster presented at the ESMO Congress 2023; October 20-24, 2023; Madrid, Spain.