Smoking is not the only cause of lung cancer; second hand smoke will do it, as well as air pollution, etc. You seem to be carrying around some anger about this - please talk to your doctor, both for medical information about your dad's disease and to learn what you can do to lessen your own risk factors; there might be a family susceptibility to cancer.

Only about nine out of ten cases of lung cancer are caused by smoking. Either your father was the tenth. or he was affected by secondary smoke. Any part of the body can get cancer, but it is much more likely if the body is abused with chemicals or radiation. Another cause of lung cancer is asbestos, which was used freely as a building material in the 50s and 60s. Just because a particular case of cancer was (probably) not caused by smoking, it does not mean that the majority of other cases were not.

I'm sorry for your loss. However, there are other causes of lung cancer other than smoking. My grandfather passed of lung cancer from too much asbestos inhalation. Smoking is bad for you for several reasons. One is that it paralyzes your nose hairs, so their is a greater chance of acquiring an infection. In addition, The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels. This can cause heart attacks and stroke. It slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs amputated. Also tar in cigarettes coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year. Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke. Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers. Smoking causes disease and is a slow way to die. Also, the strain put on your body by smoking often causes years of suffering. Emphysema is an illness that slowly rots your lungs. People with emphysema often get bronchitis again and again, and suffer lung and heart failure. Heart disease and strokes are also more common among smokers than non-smokers. Smoking causes fat deposits to narrow and block blood vessels which leads to heart attack. All in all, smoking is pretty bad for your health. Source: http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/

There are many factors to consider in this situation. He could have been around others who smoked and suffered from second hand smoke chemicals which can lead to lung cancer. 'Back in the day' before non-smoking laws were put into place smoking was considered a social norm and tons of people smoked. There was no stigma about smoking or being around the smoke smokers gave off. Being in restaurants, bars, race tracks, casino's and other establishments where people congregated on a constant basis, the likeliness of non-smokers being subjected to second hand smoke was quite common place. Another factor could simply be genetics. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in standardized tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When the person’s immune system is strong, the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors. Cancer cells can feed on sugar, acids from a high meat diet, high amounts of caffeine, and other variables. As for your skepticism about smoking being bad for you, first off you're inhaling smoke. If your house is on fire you're taught to get on the ground so that you don't inhale smoke as it damages your lungs and can cause serious health problems. Same goes for cigarettes. Except, to a lot of people, it's not as unpleasant to smoke a cigarette as it is to breath in smoke from a fire. Secondly, the chemicals in first hand and second hand smoke are so deadly and depending on several factors, you can experience serious or even deadly symptoms quickly or never at all. Keeping in mind smoking isn't just about what it does to your lungs. The chemicals get absorbed into the blood stream and can cause serious problems with organs such as damaging the tissues or causing the organs to not function properly. Constant use of tobacco increases the chances of this and the risks involved. A perfect example of this is the increased chances of a heart attack. I am sympathetic to your loss and wish you all the best. Richard Shines

Anyone can get cancer it doesn't matter if they don't smoke. Smoking is just a carcenagine. Which makes it more likely to cause cancer. Plastic are also carcenagines. There are many things in our environment that cause people to get cancer. Smoking is bad for you in more ways than causing cancer. It cause empazima and COPD. Smoking also discolores things like your house and your teeth and doesn't look good. Also in the fact if you don't smoke you save a lot of money.