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Smoking cessation ups life expectancy in lung cancer

Smoking cessation can save the life of smokers even those already diagnosed with early stage lung cancer, a new study finds.

Lung cancer is the most diagnosed form of cancer in the world. Its prognosis is usually not good as sufferers diagnosed with later stages of the disease rarely make it to five years.

Smoking, the major cause of early death from various conditions, is considered an important factor accounting for the high cancer recurrence rate in these patients.

According to the study published in the British Medical Journal, smokers who quit their habit as soon as they are diagnosed with lung cancer are twice more likely to survive for five years.

“This review has found evidence that after lung cancer has been diagnosed, reductions in risk of developing a second primary or recurrence were associated with quitting within seven years, suggesting that, even at this stage the prognostic outlook can be improved by smoking cessation,” scientists concluded.

While the exact procedure of this finding remains unclear, this study supports the hypothesis that continued smoking affects the behavior of a lung tumor.

Scientists, therefore, concluded that the body begins to repair the damage inflicted by tobacco-smoke-related chemicals as soon as an individual quits smoking.

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