Lung cancer rates among Inuit in the North of Canada are the highest in the world, according to a study in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health.

Rates among Inuit men were 1.5 times higher than the Inuit living in Alaska and Greenland. Among women, the rate was two to three times higher than other Inuit.

Rates of nasopharyngeal cancer, which affects the area behind the nose, also were sky high. Inuit men were 25 times more likely than non-Natives to develop the cancer and Inuit women were 37 times more likely.

The high rates were blamed on the wide use of tobacco. According to Statistics Canada, 58 percent of Inuit adults smoked at least once a day.

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Canadian Inuit at greatest risk of lung cancer: study (CBC 12/8)