10 Important REASONS for Cancer Patients to QUIT SMOKING

It is clear that smoking is bad for you and that you should quit when diagnosed with cancer, particularly lung cancer. However, this can be very difficult for some people, especially those who have smoked for years.

Nicotine dependence brings difficulties, but beyond these, cancer patients are often less motivated to quit as their disease progresses or when they believe their long-term outlook is poor. Particularly in younger patients, depression, pain, anxiety and treatment side effects may discourage quitting after diagnosis.

If you are a cancer patient, remember that it is never too late to quit and there are very good reasons to do so. If you have a cancer diagnosis and smoke, this article offers 10 important reasons to stop.

Why Should You Quit Smoking? Here Are 10 Important Reasons

Longer Survival

Tobacco smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths and approximately 90% of all lung cancer deaths. Quitting at any stage of disease can make a big difference to your overall chance of survival.

Oncology published a study reporting that, among 250 people with advanced lung cancer, median survival was 28 months for those who quit compared with 18 months for those who continued smoking. Median survival is the time at which half the people in a group are still alive after the initial diagnosis. This means that many people with advanced lung cancer may live 28 months or longer if they quit.

Quitting benefits not only people with lung cancer but can also improve survival for patients with other cancer types.

Lower Risk of Death

Quitting not only increases survival in people with cancer but also reduces the risk of death from all other causes.

A study of 98 thousand people in Japan lasting 15 years compared people who developed lung cancer after quitting with people who currently had the disease and smoked heavily. It found a higher risk of all-cause death in those who currently had the disease and smoked heavily. In men who smoke heavily, the risk increases 1.75-fold; among women, it increases almost 2-fold.

Fewer Surgical Complications

Studies show that quitting a year before major surgery almost completely eliminates the risk of death in the early postoperative period while also reducing vascular and respiratory complications. Surgery is an integral part of treatment for lung cancer and other solid tumors. Quitting can reduce postoperative complications, some of which may be life-threatening or substantially reduce quality of life.

JAMA Surgery published an analysis in 2013 finding that at least 21% of current smokers and 13% of former smokers experienced serious, potentially life-threatening complications after major surgery.

These Include:

• Arterial complications (such as heart attack and stroke)
• Problems involving veins
• Respiratory events (particularly pneumonia) and risk of death

Unsurprisingly, current smokers have a higher risk than former smokers, and it tends to rise with the amount smoked (measured in pack-years).

Better Results from Radiation Therapy

In cancer treatment, radiation therapy does not appear as effective in people who smoke.

One reason is that tissue oxygen concentration must be sufficient for radiation to have its maximum effect. Oxygen is the source of molecules called free radicals that can be toxic to cancer cells. Smoking causes persistent narrowing of blood vessels, reducing the oxygen reaching tissues. When oxygen levels are low, radiation therapy becomes less effective.

Smoking also prolongs and worsens radiation side effects, including mucositis (inflammation of mucosal tissues), xerostomia (dry mouth), xerosis (dry skin), loss of taste, pneumonia and damage to bone and soft tissue.

Better Results from Chemotherapy

By reducing blood flow to the tumor site, smoking may also reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Smoking has a vasoconstrictive effect, narrowing blood vessels and reducing the amount of medicine that can reach cancer cells.

Smoking also impairs liver function and may reduce the amount of liver enzymes needed to break chemotherapy medicines down into their active metabolites (products of metabolism).

Quitting can not only make chemotherapy more effective but also improve the course of the disease.

A study in Brazil in 2018 reported that quitting before chemotherapy improved survival, particularly in people with small cell lung cancer (a less common but more aggressive form of the disease). According to the researchers, median survival was 7 months for those who quit compared with 2.5 months for those who did not.

More Effective Targeted Therapies

Targeted therapies are a new group of medicines that recognize and attack cancer cells with particular genetic mutations. Their advantage is not only longer survival but also fewer side effects than most chemotherapy medicines.

Research shows that smoking weakens the effectiveness of certain targeted medicines (erlotinib) used particularly to treat pancreatic cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

The reasons are not fully clear, but it has been proposed that vasoconstriction limits the amount of medicine reaching the target site. The risk of resistance to targeted therapies is high even among light smokers.

The only effective way to reduce this risk is to quit smoking. Giving up the habit can help medicines work more effectively without reducing their duration and strength.

Faster Recovery after Treatment

Cancer treatments can harm your body. Smoking has been shown to increase the severity and duration of many common side effects even after treatment ends.

The Oncologist published a study in 2011 finding that people who continued smoking six months after treatment completion had more severe symptoms and complaints than nonsmokers:

• Concentration problems: 2.46-fold increased risk
• Depression: 2.93-fold increased risk
• Fatigue: 2.9-fold increased risk
• Hair loss: 2.53-fold increased risk
• Memory problems: 2.45-fold greater risk
• Pain: 1.91-fold increased risk
• Skin problems: 3.3-fold greater risk
• Sleep problems: 3.1-fold increased risk
• Weight loss: 2.19-fold increased risk

The researchers also concluded that participants who quit showed significant, sometimes profound improvements in symptom severity scores, highlighting the importance of quitting for improving health and quality of life after cancer treatment.

Lower Risk of a Second Cancer

Smoking can increase the risk of a second primary cancer. This is an entirely new cancer, not one that has spread from the first tumor (metastasized ).

Research shows that the combination of smoking and cancer treatments may sometimes increase this risk. Smoking can also increase the risk of a second cancer, particularly in people with thyroid cancer, by more than 2-fold. Studies have also shown that smokers with head and neck cancer have a second-cancer risk 5 times higher than nonsmokers.

Just as quitting reduces tobacco-related cancer risk, it may reduce second primary cancer risk and help you avoid less tolerable secondary treatments.

Protecting Loved Ones

Smoking harms not only the smoker but also those who live with them. Smoke exposure in passive (secondhand) smokers is estimated to cause approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States alone.

Scientists have also begun extensive research into the effects of carcinogenic compounds from cigarettes contaminating surfaces, clothes and objects for months or even years and posing health risks, particularly to babies and young children, through “thirdhand smoke”, as this form of smoke exposure is called.

Habits may change when smoking's impact on loved ones is considered.

Saving Money

Cost is another common reason to quit. If you smoke a pack a day, consider that you will spend approximately 6,300 lira by the end of the year. During cancer treatment, this money could help meet expenses and relieve some of the stress that medical bills may bring.

Everyone finds motivation in different things to quit for good. Perhaps your wallet could be what does it for you.

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• Related Topic: 4 Suggestions for Quitting Smoking – Current Approaches 

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