{"id":5922,"date":"2023-09-05T05:23:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T05:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthnewscentral.com\/?p=5922"},"modified":"2023-09-05T05:23:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T05:23:09","slug":"people-diagnosed-with-lung-cancer-have-better-survival-rate-if-they-quit-earlier-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthnewscentral.com\/people-diagnosed-with-lung-cancer-have-better-survival-rate-if-they-quit-earlier-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"People Diagnosed With Lung Cancer Have Better Survival Rate If They Quit Earlier, Study Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A recent study conducted by Harvard has observed that people who quit smoking<\/a> before their lung cancer diagnoses<\/a> have a much better chance of surviving. Compared to those that never smoked, current smokers being treated for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)<\/a> have a 68 percent higher mortality rate. Former smokers, on the other hand, had a 26 percent higher mortality rate as compared to those who never smoked at all.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the study found that the length of time a patient had refrained from smoking before their lung cancer<\/a>diagnosis had a direct impact on their odds of survival. The findings<\/a>, published in JAMA Network Open<\/em><\/a>, shed light on the vital importance of smoking cessation in the context of lung cancer.<\/p>\n

Professor of environmental genetics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<\/a> in Boston, and senior author, David Christiani, MD, MPH<\/a>, explains that these findings prove that it\u2019s critical to stop smoking as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor former smokers, it is important to remain \u2018former,\u2019 and the longer one is away from smoking, the better the outcome of\u00a0lung cancer treatment<\/a>\u00a0should you develop the disease,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Dr. Christiani says.<\/p>\n

How Many People Have Lung Cancer?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lung cancer stands as the second and most prevalent cancer among both men and women, according to the American Cancer Society<\/a>. In 2023, it is estimated that nearly 240,000 new cases of lunch cancer will arise in the United States, resulting in approximately 125,000 deaths. The majority of these cases, approximately 80 to 85 percent fall under the category of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).<\/p>\n

To better understand the beneficial impact of quitting smoking before an NSCLC diagnosis, researchers looked at data from over 5,594 individuals enrolled in the Boston Long Cancer Survival Cohort<\/a> at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1992 to 2022. The participants included 795 individuals who had never smoked, 3,308 former smokers, and 1,491 current smokers.<\/p>\n

These individuals completed questionnaires regarding their smoking habits and provided other health and demographic information at the outset. Researchers then tracked their survival every 12 to 18 months.<\/p>\n

Prolonged Survival Has Significant Association with Doubled Years of Quitting Smoking<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What made this study unique was its examination of mortality not only among current and never-smokers but also among former smokers. The study\u2019s robust findings were strengthened by the diverse range of participants, some of whom had quit smoking only a few years before their diagnosis, while others had ceased smoking several decades earlier.<\/p>\n

During the course of the study, 3,842 participants passed away, with 79.3 percent of current smokers, 66.8 percent of former smokers, and 59.6 percent of never-smokers succumbing to their conditions.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the key findings from the study:<\/p>\n