A farewell to tobacco, even after a cancer diagnosis, can reduce the risk of death by nearly a third. New evidence from a survey of over 10 thousand patients
Tobacco among the main causes for many types of cancer and, above all, that in the lungs in almost 9 out of 10 cases concerns a smoker or former. No wonder, then, that about a quarter of cancer patients are smokers when they arrive at the hospital to treat cancer. And it is estimated that a share between 50 and 80% continues even after the discovery of the neoplasm, unaware or regardless of the fact that it could reap important benefits by avoiding tobacco during and after therapies. A new study just published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology
, Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer: Lung Cancer Patients Who Quit Smoking After Diagnosis Have a 29% improvement in overall survival compared to those who continue to use cigarettes.
The new research
The study was conceived and conducted by a group of Italian researchers from the Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network in Florence and the European Institute of Oncology in Milan. This is a meta-analysis of the data published in the scientific literature up to October 2021 on the smoking cessation after lung cancer diagnosis. 21 articles were reviewed providing data on more than 10,000 patients. The results show that quitting smoking significantly improves overall survival for both patients with non-small cell cancer, the most common, and those with small cell cancers or cancers with unspecified histology. There is a biological explanation for this data: tobacco smoke promotes tumor growth, progression and dissemination; decreases efficacy and tolerance to radiotherapy and systemic drug therapy e increases the risk of postoperative complications and second primary cancers.
The benefits for cancer patients
Our study suggests that treating physicians should communicate to patients the benefits of quitting smoking even after being diagnosed with lung cancer and provide them with the necessary quitting support. Saverio Cain of the Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network of Florence, first author of the study. Numerous scientific studies have shown that cancer patients who say goodbye to cigarettes, compared to heavy smokers, have better survival rates, a higher quality of life and higher success rates in surgery, in chemo and radiotherapy treatments and in treatments with biological drugs. Several researches have also documented that starting the smoking cessation in hospital, during anticancer therapies, it can help patients a lot both to overcome nicotine withdrawal crises and to be successful in the enterprise, given the many restrictions in place when hospitalized and the great motivation that people can have in that juncture. However, only a small number of doctors find out about their patients’ smoking habits and advise them to stop.
Screening for early diagnosis
Every day in Italy approx 115 people discover they have lung cancer which remains a fearsome big killer because more than 70% of patients arrive at the diagnosis late, when the disease is already at an advanced stage and the chances of recovery are unfortunately reduced. The neoplasm, in fact, does not show evident signs of its presence at the beginning and when it does it generally has already progressed to the metastatic phase. Just to increase the odds of arriving at an early diagnosis over the past decade, many studies have evaluated the use of periodic checks with the spiral CT scan for those considered most at risk of developing lung cancer: that is heavy smokers (current or former) over the age of 50. Our findings put the need for lung cancer screening programs, the deadliest of all cancers and at the same time the most avoidable – he continues Sara Gandini, head of the Unit of Molecular and Pharmacological Epidemiology and Professor of Medical Statistics at the State University of Milan, co-author of the work -. We know that 9 out of 10 lung cancers are caused by cigarette smoking and we know that, if caught early, they can be cured with minimally invasive treatments. We also have a screening tool, low-dose CT, which has been shown in international studies to reduce mortality by 25% in heavy smokers. Ieo has been a pioneer in researching this life-saving tool since the 1990s, but what is needed now is a public health program, associated with structured smoking cessation initiatives. Our study should be a further push in this direction.
January 18, 2022 (change January 18, 2022 | 19:21)
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