Study Finds Nearly 10% of Cancer Survivors Continue to Smoke Years After Diagnosis
Despite the fact that smoking increases the probability of cancer recurrence and reduces survival time, many cancer survivors continue to smoke. In a new study, nearly 1 in 10 cancer survivors reported being current smokers 9 years after their diagnosis, and 83% were daily smokers averaging about 15 cigarettes a day. The findings could help identify survivors most at risk for continued smoking. The study by Westmaas et al is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Study Methodology
Researchers from the American Cancer Society (ACS) performed a cross-sectional analysis of 2,938 survivors of 10 cancer types diagnosed between January 2000 and September 2003. Participants were selected from 11 state cancer registries covering the four census regions (West, Midwest, Northeast, and South).
Study eligibility criteria included age ≥ 18 years old at the time of diagnosis; diagnosis with 1 of the 10 most highly incident cancers at the time of recruitment, including breast, prostate, bladder, uterine, skin melanoma, colorectal, kidney, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian, and lung; diagnosis with local, regional, or distant SEER summary stage, except inclusion of in situ cases for bladder cancer; and fluency in English or Spanish.
Gender was recorded from the cancer registries, and participants were asked on surveys about their age, marital status, household income, race/ethnicity, and education. Participants were also asked about cancer recurrence, metastasis, or the development of a new cancer over the past 5 years; cancer treatment; and alcohol and smoking history.
Study Results
Of the entire sample, 9.3% were current smokers, 41.2% were former smokers, and 49.6% were never smokers. Among the current smokers, 83.1% smoked every day and averaged 14.7 cigarettes per day, and 16.9% smoked some days and averaged 5.7 cigarettes per day.
Survivors were more likely to smoke if they were younger, had less education, or drank more alcohol. About 40% of smokers said they planned to quit within the next month, but this intention was lower among survivors who were married, older, or smoked more.
Smoking prevalence was highest among survivors of bladder cancer (17.2%), lung cancer (14.9%), ovarian cancer (11.6%), melanoma (7.6%), kidney cancer (7.3%), and colorectal cancer (6.8%).
The study findings, concluded the researchers, can be used to identify survivors most at risk for continued smoking and to inform tailoring cessation treatments for survivors.
“We need to follow up with cancer survivors long after their diagnosis to see whether they are still smoking and offer appropriate counseling, interventions, and possible medications to help them quit,” said J. Lee Westmaas, PhD, Director of Tobacco Research at the ACS and lead author of the study, in a statement.
The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
