Smokers More Likely Than Nonsmokers to Die From Colon Cancer, Study Suggests

Smokers are 30 percent more likely to die from colon cancer and 50 percent more likely to die of any cause than people who don’t smoke, a new study suggests.

Former smokers were less likely to die of colon cancer than current smokers, but faced worse odds than people who had never smoked, Reuters reports. The researchers found that 22 percent of nonsmokers died of colon cancer, compared with 30 percent of current smokers and 25 percent of former smokers.

The study, published in the journal Cancer, followed 2,264 people who developed colon cancer between 1998 and 2007. They were asked about their smoking and drinking habits before they developed cancer, and were followed until 2010.

Reuters reports that an estimated 1 in 20 adults in the United States will develop colon cancer in their lifetime. Previous studies have suggested that current and former smokers have a combined 20 percent greater chance of developing colon cancer compared with people who never smoked.