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Digital News Report – Patients with early stage lung cancer can double their survival rate by quitting smoking. Research in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) measured the effect of smoking cessation.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham reviewed 10 studies in a meta-analysis and found that people who continued to smoke after diagnosis had a substantially higher risk of death. Their tumor was also more likely to return compared to those who quit smoking.
For those who quit, their survival rate was 63-70 percent. For those who continued to smoke the survival rate dropped to 29-33 percent.
Scientists believe that the smoke affects the “behavior” of the tumor.
They recommend offering smoke cessation treatments to patients with the early stage of the disease. “It is never too late for people to stop, even when they have lung cancer”, they reported.
By: Jason Chang
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All patient should quit smoking – with advances in nicotine replacement therapy, quitting can be done without the pain or discomfort that used to occur. Once they stop breathing smoke in their lungs, they will have a better quality of life and live longer – no matter how long or short their time may be.