Dr. Jonathan Samet, an epidemiologist, testified that his research has led him to conclude that smoking also causes cancer of the kidney, bladder and urinary tract. Other witnesses said that smoking causes cancer of the pancreas, chronic bronchitis, strokes, stomach ulcers and complications of pregnancy. Dr. Carr related that during his residency in the early 1940s, he saw only two cases of lung cancer. Over the next 50 years, the incidence of lung cancer escalated dramatically. He believes the increase in lung cancer paralleled, and was caused by, the increase in smoking.
Smokers have ten times the risk of developing diseases as non-smokers.
One witness explained that even though scientists have not been able to determine the causation mechanism for cancer, they know that smoking initiates the lethal train of events that lead to cancer. The jury had an opportunity to examine freeze-dried diseased heart and lung samples. The risk of developing cancer slowly decreases after a smoker quits. When a smoker quits, his loss of lung function stops, though the lung tissue may or may not regenerate. This page, and other ASH web pages, may be freely copied and reproduced in print or on other web pages.