WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tobacco use caused 2.4 million cases of cancer in the United States from 1999 to 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week.

As might be expected, lung and bronchial cancer accounted for nearly half the cases but cancers of the larynx, mouth and pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix are also caused by tobacco, the CDC found.

"The data in this report provides additional, strong evidence of the serious harm related to tobacco," said Sherri Stewart of the CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, who led the study. Stewart's team looked at cancer surveys and registries covering 92 percent of the US population.

Kentucky had the highest rates of lung cancer among men and women, while Western states with low rates of smoking also had low rates of cancer.