Cancer worries for female smokers (From Oxford Mail)

Cancer worries for female smokers

11:00am Friday 10th August 2012 in Oxford

A HUGE study of female smokers by Oxford scientists has revealed the hidden cost of a 20-a-day habit.

A total of 1.3m middle-aged women were studied over a decade by staff at the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University .

It found women who smoke have an increased likelihood of developing cancers of the blood, immune system and bone marrow. The risks of developing Hodgkin’s lymphoma and some bone marrow cancers doubled in women who smoked about 20 cigarettes a day, evidence published in the British Journal of Cancer today indicates.

Prof Valerie Beral, one of the study authors and director of the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, said: “These results highlight smoking as a cause of cancer.”