Cigarette Smoking More Harmful than Pipe or Cigar Smoking

According to an article recently published in Lung Cancer, smoking cigarettes is more harmful than smoking cigars or pipes, largely due to inhalation methods.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. In fact, lung cancer kills more people every year than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer combined, the next three leading causes of cancer-related deaths,.

Smoking is known to be a large contributor to the incidence of lung cancers; however, smoking pipes or cigars tends to be associated with a lower rate of death than smoking cigarettes.

The cytochrome P-450-1A (CYP1A) biological pathway converts tobacco into carcinogens (cancer-causing molecules). Researchers from France recently conducted a clinical trial to evaluate CYP1A2 (a measure of activity within the CYP1A pathway) among patients who smoked cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. This trial included 28 individuals who smoked cigarettes only, 30 individuals who smoked pipes or cigars, and 30 individuals who were non-smokers.

Cigarette smoking was the only predictor of CYP1A2 activity.
The researchers believe that the way smoker inhale, versus the means through which tobacco is smoked, is the main reason for differences in CYP1A2 activity.
The researchers concluded that cigarette smokers tend to inhale larger amounts of tobacco smoke than cigar or pipe smokers. They therefore produce more carcinogens when they smoke. This is consistent with data showing fewer deaths among cigar and pipe smokers compared to cigarette smokers