- Stopping smoking reduces cancer risk at any age, especially after 10 years, according to a new study.
- Researchers report that former smokers’ risks of developing lung cancer drop the fastest after stopping smoking.
- Quitting when you’re younger has stronger benefits in cancer risk reduction, but the benefits of quitting after age 50 are still significant, the researchers said.
Quitting smoking at any age appears to significantly reduce a person’s risk of lung and other cancers.
That’s the conclusion of
For their study, researchers looked at a cohort of nearly 3 million people over the age of 30 with an average follow-up of 13 years.
In their findings, researchers reported that those who stopped smoking entirely had a 17% lower overall risk of cancer than those who continued to smoke. That included a 42% lower risk of lung cancer incidence, a 27% lower risk of liver cancer, a 14% lower risk of stomach cancer, and a 20% lower risk of colorectal cancer.
Of all cancers, lung cancer risks declined the most quickly following smoking cessation, falling three years earlier than other cancers. And while quitting before age 50 was better for improving your odds against a lung cancer diagnosis — averaging a 57% lower risk of lung cancer — even quitting after age 50 reduces lung cancer risk by 39% compared to continued smokers, the researchers reported.
“This is a very large population-based study that demonstrates that smoking cessation reduces cancer risk at any age, particularly at a younger age. It also provides insight into the importance of smoking cessation over a longer period and how this further reduces the risk of getting cancer,” said Dr. Anton Bilchik, a surgical oncologist, chief of medicine, and director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in California.
“The limitations include that it is a retrospective population-based study and…
Read the full article here