Why is the count sometimes 16 and sometimes 17?

Depending on the source, breast cancer (link established but debated) and rectum separated from colon are included or not. The IARC officially recognises 16 sites; some French and Quebec sources go up to 17.

Does rolling tobacco cause the same cancers?

Yes. Rolling tobacco does not have factory cigarette filters and releases more tar and CO. Risk is at least equivalent — some studies find it higher per equivalent cigarette.

A shisha session matches 40-100 cigarettes in inhaled smoke. Cancer risks comparable, even higher for the upper aerodigestive tract.

If I already had a tobacco cancer, will I get more?

Risk of a second cancer is increased in former patients who keep smoking. A major medical reason to quit after a diagnosis.

Is HPV plus tobacco cumulative for cervical cancer?

Yes. HPV is the main cause, but tobacco multiplies the risk in infected women. HPV vaccine + non-smoking is the best protection.

The 16 cancers linked to tobacco: lung, bladder, pancreas, throat — everything you are not told

Tobacco is not just lung cancer. 16-17 sites are recognised by the IARC: bladder, pancreas, liver, cervix, leukaemias… The complete list.

May 13, 2026 Aria

When you say 'tobacco cancer', people think lung. And it is true: tobacco is responsible for more than 8 in 10 lung cancers. But that is only the visible part. The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer, a WHO agency) officially recognises 16 to 17 different sites where tobacco raises cancer risk. Many are not in the lung.

The official IARC list

According to IARC classifications (regularly updated), tobacco significantly raises cancer risk in the following sites:

Cancer	Share caused by tobacco (estimate)
Lung	80-85 %
Larynx	70-80 %
Oral cavity (lips, tongue, cheeks)	50-70 %
Pharynx (oropharynx, hypopharynx)	60-70 %
Oesophagus	50 %
Bladder	35-50 %
Paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity	around 50 %
Pancreas	20-30 %
Kidney and ureter	20-30 %
Stomach	10-25 %
Liver	15-25 %
Cervix	around 15 %
Colon-rectum	raised risk, % less established
Ovary (mucinous types)	raised risk
Acute myeloid leukaemia	around 15 %
Breast (probable, debated link)	hard to quantify

That is 16 to 17 different sites.

46,000 cancer deaths in France every year are attributable to tobacco. More than all road accidents, falls and suicides combined.

Santé Publique France / INCa, 2024

Why tobacco can cause so many different cancers

Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including 70 known carcinogens (IARC, 2023). These molecules circulate everywhere in the body via the bloodstream. Wherever they accumulate or concentrate, cancer risk goes up.

Three lesser-known cancers worth highlighting

Bladder cancer

1 in 2 Almost half of bladder cancers in men are caused by tobacco. Smokers have 5 times the risk of developing this cancer compared with non-smokers.

INCa, 2024

Circulating carcinogens are eliminated by the kidneys, concentrated in urine, and stored for hours in the bladder. The prolonged contact with a fragile mucous membrane does the rest.

Pancreatic cancer

One of the deadliest (5-year survival is very low). Tobacco is responsible for 20-30 % of cases. Smokers have 2-3 times the risk compared with non-smokers.

Cervical cancer

Tobacco weakens local immune defences. Cervical cancer is mainly caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) — which the immune system normally clears. In smokers, the infection persists more often and longer.

A cigarette is not a local poison, it is a systemic poison. Wherever the blood goes, the carcinogens go too. And the blood goes everywhere.

Selon les pneumologues

Myth vs reality

The dose effect: longer smoking, higher risk

Tobacco-related cancer risk is dose-dependent: it rises with the duration and intensity of smoking.

Duration: 20 years at a pack a day is far riskier than 5 years at a pack.
Intensity: 20 cigarettes/day is riskier than 10.
Age of starting: starting young exposes you longer and with a more vulnerable brain.

The recovery after quitting

Good news: risk drops gradually after quitting.

5 years after quitting risk of mouth, throat, oesophagus and bladder cancers starts halving.
10 years after quitting lung-cancer risk halves compared with a current smoker.
15-20 years after quitting risk reaches that of a non-smoker for most cancers (not all).

Second-hand smoke and cancers

Passive exposure to others' smoke is also carcinogenic (IARC group 1). It mainly raises the risk of lung cancer in non-smokers living with a smoker (+20-30 %), and breast cancer in young pre-menopausal women exposed.

In United Kingdom

Your questions

Why is the count sometimes 16 and sometimes 17?

Depending on the source, breast cancer (link established but debated) and rectum separated from colon are included or not. The IARC officially recognises 16 sites; some French and Quebec sources go up to 17.
Does rolling tobacco cause the same cancers?

Yes. Rolling tobacco does not have factory cigarette filters and releases more tar and CO. Risk is at least equivalent — some studies find it higher per equivalent cigarette.
And shisha?

A shisha session matches 40-100 cigarettes in inhaled smoke. Cancer risks comparable, even higher for the upper aerodigestive tract.
If I already had a tobacco cancer, will I get more?

Risk of a second cancer is increased in former patients who keep smoking. A major medical reason to quit after a diagnosis.
Is HPV plus tobacco cumulative for cervical cancer?

Yes. HPV is the main cause, but tobacco multiplies the risk in infected women. HPV vaccine + non-smoking is the best protection.

sources

IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), Tobacco Smoking, IARC Monographs Vol. 100E.
Cancer Research UK, How smoking causes cancer, evidence dossier, updated 2024.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), Tobacco-attributable mortality, England, 2024 update.
US Surgeon General, The Health Consequences of Smoking — 50 Years of Progress, 2014.