Relationship between Tobacco Smoking and Cervical Cancer

Relationship between Tobacco Smoking and Cervical Cancer.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018. Approximately 90% of deaths from cervical cancer occur in low- and middle income countries. This paper reviews the current issues in the relevant literature and the effects of tobacco smoking on cervical cancer.

People living below the poverty level and having lower levels of educational attainment have higher rates of cigarette smoking than the general population in the USA. From 2002 to 2016, smoking rates declined among all educational levels, but the percentage of smoking decline for those with a college degree or higher was 2.6 times larger than those with a high school diploma. These data do not contradict the fact that the death rates of cervical cancer are very high in low- and middle-income countries.

In 2017, the smoking rates among women between 20 and 49-years of age (sexually mature women) were 6.30-12.30%, which are relatively low.22 However, the smoking rates among men
in the same age group were 26.60-39.60%. Most especially, the rates among men between 30 and 49-years of age were about 40%, which is quite high. Japanese women should therefore pay attention both to their partners’ smoking habits as well as their own passive smoking in order to prevent cervical cancer.

Given the pervasiveness of smoking in many countries and the growing number of patients with cervical cancer around the world, tobacco use should be strictly limited as a vital public health strategy in order to prevent a global cervical cancer epidemic.

Women Health Open J. 2019; 5(1): 19-21. doi: 10.17140/WHOJ-5-13