An emotive advertisement which targets women who smoke will be shown on television in Victoria starting this Sunday.

About 811 Victorian women died in 2007 due to lung cancer: a record more than in any previous year.

The TV advertisement shows that a woman learning from a doctor she has lung cancer having to break the news to her children.

A recent study showed that lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among women in the state in 2006 and remained the top killer in 2007.

Fiona Sharkie, Quit executive director, advised smokers to think about the impact of smoking on their families.

Although the number of smokers is declining, the deadly legacy of the years when female smoking rates were at their peak is only now becoming apparent, she said.

More women and families in Victoria are dealing with a lung cancer diagnosis than ever before, mostly because of smoking.

Smokers should realize this could happen to you and your family.

Peter MacCallium Cancer Centre nurse coordinator Mary Duffy said she was seeing a growing number of women with lung cancer.

Children often don't know what is cancer or why their mothers are sick, she said.

All they know is that their world has been disrupted by hospitals visits, treatments and the presence of strangers.

For women with young children who rely on them for everything, there's probably nothing worse.

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