Smoking has always been considered as a major concern across the world. Millions of lives are lost each year due to this habit.

Smoking has always been a major cause of lung cancer. However, findings in a recent study suggest that it can also be linked with certain other types of cancer, including bone marrow and also a few types of cancers of immune system.

Researchers at Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University took into consideration information regarding 1.3 million middle-aged women, who were a part of Million Women study.

During the ten-year period of the study, an estimated 9,000 women were diagnosed of leukemia, which is a type of immune system cancer, or bone marrow cancer.

Statistical reports suggest that nearly eight in 1,000 women smokers were diagnosed of one of the types of the cancer, while in case of non-smokers group; it remained to six in 1,000.

Researchers highlighted that the women who smoked 20 cigarettes on daily basis, were at double the risk of developing Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Author of the study, which has been published in the British Journal of Cancer, Professor Valerie Beral said, “Smoking raises the risk of many types of cancer and also the risk of heart attack and stroke, which many people may not be aware of”.