Never too late: Cancer centers push patients to quit smoking

This July 2021 photo provided by Preston Browning shows him at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. Browning, 20, of Ridgetop, Tenn., who is recovering from cancer surgery, quit smoking with help from Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. He says cancer is "the biggest reason I've ever had in my life to quit." (Courtesy Preston Browning via AP) This July 2021 photo provided by Preston Browning shows him at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. Browning, 20, of Ridgetop, Tenn., who is recovering from cancer surgery, quit smoking with help from Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. He says cancer is "the biggest reason I've ever had in my life to quit." (Courtesy Preston Browning via AP)

By CARLA K. JOHNSON / Associated Press July 27, 2021 4 min read

When cancer patients stop smoking, they heal faster, experience fewer side effects from treatment and lower their chances of tumors returning. Now, top cancer hospitals are helping patients quit as evidence mounts that it’s never too late.

The newest research, reported Monday, shows lung cancer patients who stopped smoking gained nearly two years of life compared to those who continued to smoke.

“It is a huge effect,” said Dr. Mahdi Sheikh, who led the study for the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency in Lyon, France. In lung cancer, he said, quitting smoking is “as necessary as the treatments.”

In the U.S., many cancer centers offer proven quit strategies: phone counseling, nicotine patches and pills that ease the urge to smoke. More cancer doctors are talking to their patients about quitting.

For some patients, the shock of a cancer diagnosis can be highly motivating.