The benefits of smoking cessation after cancer are considerable. However, a minority of patients receive doctor’s advice to quit smoking.
It’s never too late to quit smoking. A study, published this December 6 in the newspaper Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, reveals that people who quit smoking after a cancer diagnosis survive better than those who continue.
A team of researchers from the Fremont Cancer Prevention Institute (California, United States) analyzed data from a cohort study in Shanghai (China). Nearly 20,000 men took part in an attempt to establish an association between lifestyle and the onset of cancer. Of these, 3,300 developed cancer, a quarter of whom were smokers at the time of diagnosis. Those who continued to smoke after diagnosis had a 60% increased risk of dying.
“Only a fraction of cancer patients who smoke at the time of diagnosis receive counseling to quit smoking,” said Li Tao, epidemiologist and co-author of the study. “Less than half of patients end up quitting smoking after their diagnosis. However, the benefits of smoking cessation, even after cancer, are considerable. Patients who smoke have an almost tripled risk of dying from bladder cancer. Lung and colon cancers are also at the top of the risk of death. Smoking patients also stay longer in hospital and their follow-up is longer.
Misconceptions die hard when it comes to smoking. The researchers point out that patients, doctors and caregivers alike believe that it is pointless to quit smoking after cancer. This study settles the question: even if the damage has already been done, it is possible to reduce the effects of cancer.
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