William Atkins
Thursday, 22 January 2009 19:05
Science -
Health
Page 1 of 3
A West Virginia-led study of smoking behavior found that only 44% of people quit their tobacco habit when diagnosed with cancer. Continuing to smoke after being diagnosed with a tobacco-related cancer hinders the effectiveness of the treatment.
The article “
Smoking Behaviors Among Cancer Survivors: An Observational Clinical Study” was published in the January 2009 issue (volume 5, number 1, pages 6-9) of the
Journal of Oncology Practice.
The lead author of the study, Dr.
Jame Abraham, is from the Hematology and Oncology, Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
He was joined in the study by Lola Burke, Lesley-Ann Miller, and Aymar Saad.
They are associated with one of the three following institutions: Hematology and Oncology, Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, and the School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia; the Division of Pharmacy, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; and the Neoplastic Diseases and Related Disorders, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The authors state in the abstract to their paper that:
“Smoking is a well-recognized risk factor for several cancers including cancers of the lung, bladder, and head and neck. Studies have shown that smoking can adversely affect the outcomes of different modalities of cancer treatment.”
They add,
“This study examines smoking behaviors among cancer survivors to collect information necessary to create successful smoking cessation interventions.”
The details of the study is found on page two.
