Can combination of TB and smooking cause lung cancer?
Jun 24, 2010 in
Mesothelioma FAQs
if you have had tuberculosis in earlier age like tweenties and kept smooking for a long time after that is it more likely to get lung cancer than just from smooking alone, becuase as far as i know TB leaves a scarr in the lung and thats where cancer could start when older am i making sense or there is no link whatsoever?
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3 comments
norton g on June 24, 2010 at 11:26 pm
SPD WRLD-
Relax! There is almost zero connection between a lung scar from TB and the cancer caused by smoking. They are different types of lung cancer. Smoking leads to the most common type = squamous cell carcinoma. Another type of lung cancer which rarely develops in an old scar is the type called adenocarcinoma. The TB scar, very common in millions of healthy people usually is found on the outer surface of a lung lobe. The smoker’s cancer mainly starts in the central part of the lung in the bronchi, near the trachea. So, yes, you are making sense, and you do not have to worry that an old TB lung scar will become a lung cancer from smoking. Of course, stopping smoking is perhaps the wisest thing for you to do.
The Answer Wiz on June 24, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Both can cause severe damage to your lungs and when you add the two together you get a bad result… =[
internits on June 24, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Smoking when you already have damaged lungs is always going to be a risk for lung disease. Not specifically cancer, but chronic bronchitis, emphysemia, etc.
Smoking is bad for your lungs whether they have scarring or not.