Cancer diagnosis may be linked with improved smoking cessation

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Research evidence indicates that a cancer diagnosis can stimulate smoking cessation. Little previous study research exists correlating smoking cessation with a diagnosis of cancer, though the event certainly provides the opportunity for a teachable moments in which an oncology may attempt to motivate a smoker to quit the habit.

Study author J. Lee Westmaas, PhD, and associates, based at the Behavioral Research Center, American Cancer Society, sought to determine if a link exists.

Participant data from the Cancer Prevention Study-II Nutrition Cohort was reviewed and a comparison made between the quit rates of smokers diagnosed with cancer at 2- and 4-year intervals and smokers not diagnosed with cancer. Individuals with cancers that could influence smoking (saucy as cancer of the lung or esophagus) were excluded from the review.

Both the 2-year and 4-year quit rate was found to be higher for smokers diagnosed with cancer. Even when the cancer diagnosis had a good prognosis or could not be directly linked to the smoking habit, the quit rate was found to be higher.

The investigation results suggest that a cancer diagnosis may indeed provide a teachable moment opportunity for oncology professionals.