The most important way to decrease the risk of smoking‑related cancers is to stop all tobacco use as soon as possible and avoid other people’s smoke completely. Risk also goes down by limiting other carcinogen exposures, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and using recommended screening tests when eligible.
Stop tobacco completely
- Cigarette smoking is the biggest avoidable cause of cancers such as lung, mouth, throat, bladder, kidney, pancreas, and cervix; stopping completely is the single most effective risk‑reduction step.
- Quitting lowers cancer risk compared with continuing to smoke, and the risk continues to fall the longer someone stays smoke‑free (for lung cancer, risk can fall by roughly one‑third to more than one‑half after about 10 years, depending on prior use).
If you smoke, how to quit
- Using a combination of behavioral support (counseling, group programs, quitlines, apps) and medications (nicotine replacement products, certain prescription medicines) makes long‑term quitting more likely and reduces later cancer and heart‑disease risk compared with unaided quitting.
- For people unable or unwilling to quit immediately, structured “reduce to quit” plans may lower exposure and can be a bridge toward full cessation, though they are less protective than stopping entirely.
Avoid secondhand smoke and other exposures
- Regular exposure to secondhand smoke increases lung‑cancer risk in people who do not smoke; avoiding indoor smoking and choosing smoke‑free homes, cars, and workplaces lowers this risk.
- Reducing exposure to other lung carcinogens such as radon at home and substances like asbestos, arsenic, nickel, or chromium at work (through testing, ventilation, and proper protective equipment) further decreases risk.
Healthy lifestyle and screening
- Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods, staying physically active, keeping a healthy body weight, and limiting alcohol can lower overall cancer risk, including some risks in people who smoke or used to smoke.
- Eligible current and former heavy smokers can reduce their risk of dying from lung cancer by participating in recommended low‑dose CT lung‑cancer screening programs, which can detect cancers earlier when they are more treatable.
Key approaches at a glance
Approach| How it reduces risk
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Stop all smoking and tobacco| Removes main source of tobacco carcinogens. 16
Avoid secondhand smoke| Cuts involuntary smoke exposure for you and family. 3
Reduce radon and work toxins| Lowers combined carcinogen load on lungs. 25
Healthy diet, weight, activity| Supports lower overall cancer risk. 18
Use cessation help and screening| Increases successful quitting and earlier
cancer detection. 29
If you share how much and how long you have smoked, guidance can be tailored more specifically to your situation.