Nearly 10 percent of cancer survivors are unable to quit smoking according to a new study.
The study entitled "Prevalence and Correlates of Smoking and Cessation-Related Behavior among Survivors of Ten Cancers: Findings from a Nationwide Survey Nine Years after Diagnosis," was led by J. Lee Westmaas, director of tobacco research at the American Cancer Society (ACS), at the Behavioral Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Specifically, the rate of smoking is high in those individuals who suffered from lung or bladder cancer because of smoking. The population-based study quizzed 2,938 cancer survivors selected via random sampling post nine years of diagnosis and based their conclusions on this research.
"Smoking is detrimental to recovery and survival from cancer, but many cancer survivors continue to smoke. Information is lacking on smoking patterns of survivors many years after diagnosis and correlates of smoking status and patterns, likelihood of quitting, and intentions to quit," wrote the researchers.
The study found that 9.3 percent of cancer survivors in the U.S. were smoking currently. Moreover, smoking was high among lung cancer, bladder cancer and ovarian cancer survivors at 14.9 percent, 17.2 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively.
Alarmingly, 83 percent of the current smokers were smoking 14.7 cigarettes each day on an average. Nearly 40 percent of the daily smokers smoked over 15 cigarettes per day. Non-daily smokers smoked 10.9 days on an average in a period of 30 days. Their cigarette intake was 5.7 per day on an average on smoking days.
Interestingly, the current smokers were linked to lower income and education, younger age and high alcohol consumption. A third of the current smokers were looking to quit the habit in the next month. However, the chances of the individual quitting were decreased in the case of cancer survivors who were older, married or smoked more than average.
Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking is instrumental in causing cancer anywhere in the human body. Smoking also decreases the efficiency of cancer treatments, as well as heightens the probability of a relapse.
"Smoking is addictive and having cancer does not guarantee that you will stop, even if that cancer was directly tied to your smoking. We need to do more to intervene with these patients," says Westmaas.
The results of the study have been published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
