Cancer Institute: “Tobacco Burning Causes Cancer, Electronic Cigarettes Reduce Smoking Risks”

• Professor David Khayat: “Policymakers should encourage smokers to quit smoking or get nicotine through less harmful ways to prevent cancer”

The Former Director of the French National Cancer Institute and Professor at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, Professor David Khayat, confirmed that tobacco burning has become one of the main causes of cancer, which requires the need to work on discovering new ways to combat the harmful effects of smoking and help people quit or get nicotine through devices other than traditional cigarettes as a major means of preventing cancer.
During the All-Russian Congress on Medical Risk Modification, hosted in Moscow, with the participation of international doctors and experts to discuss the latest developments in prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation methods following the affliction with diseases that threaten human life, Professor David Khayat confirmed that tobacco burning is responsible for many types of cancer including oral, head, neck, lungs, stomach, pancreas, kidneys, and others, where France reports about 400,000 cancer cases annually, resulting in 150,000 deaths per year, from a total population of 66 million in France.
Khayat explained that cancer is one of the biggest global health challenges. According to the World Health Organization in 1990, tobacco burning was the main cause of cancer, and in 2019, tobacco burning remained a major cause of cancer worldwide, which means that the attempt to control the smoking epidemic did not fully achieve the desired results, especially in Russia, France, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Despite the development of diagnostic means and effective treatments, even when the disease is detected in its early stages, we still witness the widespread of cancer.
The former Director of the French National Cancer Institute confirmed that the world can prevent about 60% of all types of cancer, if we succeed in facing pollution, smoking, poor diet, obesity, and other viruses, adding that obesity increases the risk of developing many types of cancer, including breast cancer, uterus, colon, and prostate, where about 20% of cancer cases worldwide are recorded due to dietary factors.
He continued, “As for smoking, we are talking here about your lifestyle and daily habits, and how you live. And in the end, you are the decision-maker. Some people are not able to quit smoking, so why don’t we provide them with other ways to get nicotine that do not cause cancer or reduce its risks? Especially with the availability of modern devices, such as electronic cigarettes, tobacco heating systems, and other alternatives to traditional cigarettes.” He added that it is necessary to work on cancer prevention, considering the existence of one billion smokers worldwide, the same recorded rate 20 or 30 years ago, of whom about 8%, which equals 80 million cases, develop lung cancer, which poses a global health threat, for being the reason behind 75% of death cases.
Professor David Khayat pointed to the results of a study that showed that 64% of lung cancer patients will continue to smoke until death, indicating the extent of their addiction to traditional smoking, and how science provides us with opportunities for harm reduction, adding that controlling the rates of traditional smoking by encouraging individuals to resort to less harmful methods for obtaining nicotine should become a major goal for policymakers. He also highlighted some countries that combat traditional cigarettes and encourage smoking alternatives, such as Japan, UK, and France.