"Never too late" to quit smoking

Tuesday 26th January 2010

Cancer patients are being encouraged to give up smoking as a report suggests it is never too late to kick the habit.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that smokers with early lung cancer who give up tobacco have a greater chance of survival - at least five years - than those who continue to light up.

The team looked at data from 10 studies on the impact of stopping smoking after early diagnosis of the disease.

It discovered that only 29% to 33% of patients who continued to smoke lived for five years, while more than double (63% to 70%) who stopped smoking survived for that number of years.

The researchers said that people who gave up the smoking had a lower risk of tumours reoccurring and a lesser risk of death.

Across the world, lung cancer is the most common type of the disease. In the UK it is only beaten by breast cancer as the most common.

The scientists concluded that it is never too late for people to quit smoking, even if they have already been diagnosed with lung cancer.

University of Birmingham

Your comments (terms and conditions apply):

"Since cancer is caused by smoking the selling of it should be completely eradicated" - Akpoli Christian Enaholo, Nigeria

"In Britain the most common cancer in women is breast cancer and the most common cancer in men is prostate cancer. Only about 6% of smokers get lung cancer and not all lung cancer is caused by smoking" - Chas, Suffolk

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