LONDON (Reuters) – Smoking increases the risk of colon cancer, according to a study published yesterday that provides the first clear evidence linking tobacco use to the common killer. Regular smokers were 18 percent more likely to develop the disease and had a 25 percent higher risk of dying from it than people who had never smoked, Edoardo Botteri and colleagues at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan reported.

Smoking has long been linked to lung and several other types of cancers, heart disease and respiratory problems but until now the role cigarettes contributed to colon – or colorectal – cancer was not clear, Botteri said. "The correlation between smoking and colorectal cancer has been inconsistent," Botteri said. "The findings are interesting because for the first time we are quite sure there is a link between smoking and colorectal cancer." Bowel or colorectal cancer, which includes cancer of the colon and rectum, is one of the most common forms of cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of death from cancer.