Smoking is the most important risk factor for lung cancer (and for many other cancers) is tobacco use. Epidemiologic data have established that cigarette smoking is the predominant cause of lung cancer. This causative link has been widely recognized since the 1960s, when national reports in Great Britain and the United States brought the cancer risk of smoking prominently to the public’s attention. For more information about smoking and lung cancer, visit

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/lung/HealthProfessional/allpages