A total of 2.4 million cases of cancer were resulted from tobacco in the United States from 1999 to 2004, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.

According to the CDC report, tobacco use is the No. 1 preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States, topping alcohol use, car crashes, suicide, homicide and illegal drug use, and the most prominent cause of cancer.

Around 438,000 people died prematurely every year due to tobacco use, including 38,000 people who were secondhand smokers, it said.

"In addition, smoking accounts for US$167 dollars annually in health care expenditures and productivity losses."

The CDC found that apart from lung and bronchial cancer that accounted for nearly half the cases, tobacco could also lead to cancers of the larynx, mouth and pharynx, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix, and acute myelogenous leukemia.

The report also said that Kentucky had the highest rates of lung cancer among men and women, and tobacco-related diseases are more common among blacks and non-Hispanic whites.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2008)