Percentage of lung cancer deaths

Percentage of lung cancer deaths attributable to smoking in the developed world 35-69 years 70 years+ All ages
Men 93.9 90.3 92.5
Women 68.8 68.9 68.8
Both 88.7 84.3 86.6

The extensive attempts made by Philip Morris to delay the release of the 1997 IARC study, to affect the wording of its conclusions, to neutralise its negative results for their business, and to counteract its impact on public and policymakers' opinion has been documented by Ong & Glantz in The Lancet[16]. Their work was based on 32 million pages of documents made public as part of the settlement of the 1998 legal case of State of Minnesota and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota vs Philip Morris Inc, et al. and available at Philip Morris' own website[17].

Recent investigation of sidestream smoke suggests it is more dangerous than direct smoke inhalation[18].

Asbestos

Asbestos can cause a variety of lung diseases. It increases the risk of developing lung cancer. There is a synergistic effect between tobacco smoking and asbestos in the formation of lung cancer.

Asbestos can also cause cancer of the pleura, called mesothelioma (which is distinct from lung cancer)