Cigarette Smoke, DNA Damage Repair, and Human Health

Cigarette smoking is associated with numerous adverse health effects caused to nearly every organ of the body, which account for an estimated 438 000 deaths, or nearly one of every five deaths each year in the United States (Centers for disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Fact Sheet, January 2008). Cigarette smoking is linked with coronary heart disease and different types of cancers, including lung, bladder, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, cervical, colon, and breast. Other than epidemiological studies, more scientific facts are emerging to establish more firmly the causal relationship of cigarette smoking with different types of cancers.