After receiving a cancer diagnosis, quitting smoking increases survival for a number of cancer types.

 After receiving a cancer diagnosis, quitting smoking increases survival for a number of cancer types.HOUSTON There is now additional motivation for smokers with cancer to stop as researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered that individuals who stop smoking within six months of receiving a cancer diagnosis had the best chance of surviving.

The study's findings, which were released today in JAMA Oncology, showed that those who stopped smoking within three months of starting tobacco therapy had a 22%–26% lower risk of dying from cancer. Patients who began tobacco therapy within six months after receiving a cancer diagnosis and stopped smoking three months later had the best results. Patients who abstained from smoking lived an additional 3.9 years, compared to 2.1 years for smokers.

The study's principal investigator, Paul Cinciripini, Ph.D., chair of Behavioral Science and Executive Director of the Tobacco Research and Treatment Program at MD Anderson, stated that although quitting smoking is widely encouraged in cancer centers as a cancer prevention strategy, many oncologists still neglect it in their routine care. "Our findings highlight the importance of quitting smoking as soon as possible as akey clinical intervention for patients undergoing cancer treatment." 

Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S. According to the Surgeon General, smoking at or following a cancer diagnosis increases both all-cause and cancer-specific mortality, as well as risk for disease progression and tobacco-related second primary cancers. Each year, about 480,000 Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses. 

The average smoker makes several attempts to quit before successfully beating the addiction. MD Anderson’s Tobacco Research and Treatment Program tackles the barriers to cessation at an individual and population level, and conducts research designed to change clinical practice by addressing knowledge gaps among health care providers on treating tobacco addiction.  

In the current study, researchers followed a cohort of 4,526 current smokers who had been diagnosed with cancer and were receiving cessation treatment at MD Anderson. The patients included men and women aged 47 to 62. More than 95% of visits in the study were provided via telemedicine. Abstinence was defined as self-reported no smoking in the seven days before each assessment, at the three-, six- and nine-month follow-up marks. The primary outcome was survival recorded by the MD Anderson tumor registry.  "This is a call to action for experts, regulatory bodies and institutions to prioritize smoking cessation as an integral part of first-line cancer care," Cinciripini stated. "MD Anderson has invested much in tobacco use research and clinical treatment, which at the patient level results in a longer and higher quality of life for people who give up smoking. The influence on a patient's lifetime increases with the timing of tobacco cessation treatment.

The availability of non-cancer-related medical disorders according to the tumor registry and the fact that the study's patients were enrolled in an institutionally sponsored treatment program are two of its limitations.