A recent study revealed that quitting smoking can nearly double the short-term survival odds for cancer patients.
According to research published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, patients with advanced cancer gained a full year of extra life if they quit smoking.
Researchers at Washington University’s Siteman Cancer Center followed over 13,000 cancer patients between June and December 2018 and discovered that those who quit smoking after diagnosis lived almost a year longer as compared to those who continued.
Director of the hospital’s smoking cessation program senior author Dr. Li-Shiun Chen stated, “It is never too late, and no one is ever ‘too sick’ to quit smoking.”
Nearly 20% of smokers in the study quit within six months of starting treatment; however, quitting minimised their risk of dying within two years.
Lead author Dr. Steven Tohmasi mentioned that “lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking can prolong survival even more than some chemotherapies,” adding that avoiding smoking should be treated as the “fourth pillar of cancer care,” alongside surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
Dr. James Davis of Duke Cancer Institute, who reviewed the findings, called the survival benefit a “huge effect.”
The study stated that the results supported integrating smoking cessation into comprehensive cancer treatment plans.
