“Never Too Late” To Quit Smoking

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

Worldwide, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer. In the UK, it is second only to breast cancer, accounting for around 39,000 new cancer diagnoses annually.

Smoking increases the risk of developing lung cancer; lifelong smokers have a 20-fold increased risk compared with non-smokers. However until now it was not known whether quitting after a diagnosis of lung cancer has any benefit.

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 from Birmingham 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.

Jonathan Chetland a local NHS Stop Smoking Adviser from Somerset NHS Stop Smoking Service said: “This research shows it is never too late for people to quit smoking, even if you have already been diagnosed with lung cancer.

“The immediate health benefits of quitting smoking are substantial. Heart rate and blood pressure, which were abnormally high while smoking, begin to return to normal within a few hours. Within only a couple of months real improvements in lung function can occur.”

You are four times more likely to quit using the free help and support from Somerset NHS Stop Smoking Service.