LIVE WEBINAR – Perspectives on Smoking Cessation and Cancer: Quitting Smoking After a Cancer Diagnosis and Emerging Evidence on Vaping as a Smoking Cessation Strategy – 12 December, 16:00 CET – Register now!

Quitting Smoking After a Cancer Diagnosis: Key to Better Survival and Treatment Outcomes

Dr Mahdi Sheikh

Scientist, Genomic Epidemiology Branch

International Agency for Research on Cancer

Smoking is a known cause of at least 20 types of cancer, but a significant proportion of patients with cancer, including up to 50% of patients with lung cancer, continue to smoke after a cancer diagnosis. Research shows that continued smoking after a cancer diagnosis severely affects treatment outcomes, leading to increased treatment failures, more complications, and reduced quality of life. Despite this, some patients may think it is too late to benefit from quitting, after they have already been diagnosed with cancer. In Europe, awareness among oncologists of the importance of smoking cessation in cancer care remains limited; only one third of oncologists actively support their patients in quitting, and smoking cessation services are rarely integrated into oncology care. This presentation will summarize more than a decade of research showing that quitting smoking after a cancer diagnosis can increase median survival by 1.5–3 years and reduce mortality risk by 30–50%. In addition, we will discuss the positive impacts of smoking cessation on treatment success, reduced complications, and improved quality of life, as well as the economic benefits, as demonstrated by cost–effectiveness analyses.

SMOKING, VAPING, AND LUNG CANCER  

Dr Giulia Veronesi

Director of the Thoracic Surgery Division

San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Italy

Smoking remains the risk factor that causes the greatest combined rate of death and disability. At age 70 years, the survival rate of smokers is 28% lower than that of non-smokers. Public spending on lung cancer alone in Italy is €2.5 billion per year. Policies to combat smoking must be supported more at the government level. One of the most effective measures to reduce tobacco use is to increase excise duties. The principle of risk reduction promoted by Big Tobacco with the introduction of e-cigarettes is a great marketing promotion but does not have benefits for smokers and is not correlated with a reduction in tobacco use. Primary prevention should be implemented in parallel to lung cancer early detection and screening programmes. In Italy, in addition to reducing lung cancer mortality, low-dose computed tomography screening has been demonstrated to create savings for the Italian economic system. There is a need to allocate structured funds to ensure primary and secondary prevention programmes for smoking-related diseases