Assessment of awareness level on tobacco and smoking habits as risk factors for cancer among lung and laryngeal cancer patients in Kolkata--a case control study.

The burden of tobacco related cancers is increasing alarmingly throughout the world; therefore tobacco control merits the highest priority in the fight against cancer worldwide. The present report concerns a case control study of males with cancers of lung and larynx, to assess tobacco use, level of exposure and the awareness of risk of tobacco as a main cause of cancer. A total of 217 new patients with cancer of lung and larynx registered at Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute were recruited for the study, along with 200 healthy male (age, religion and residential status matched ) visiting controls. Information on socio-demographic parameters, details of the disease, tobacco use, and awareness about effects of tobacco were obtained through a standardized questionnaire. Smokers were at a higher risk of disease than nonsmokers, with a direct correlation between duration and number of smoking, monthly income, family size and education level. Adjusted ORs observed for smokers for duration more than 40 years of smoking and smoking more than 40 beedi/cigarettes per day were 4.3 and 3.9, respectively. Awareness level towards tobacco chewing, active and passive smoking revealed poor response among the subjects. Thus improved health education for antismoking and awareness generation of tobacco hazards should be strongly recommended as a preventive measure.