Study: Smoking Linked to Shortened Breast Cancer Survival

By Stacy Simon RESOURCES: Guide to Quitting SmokingLearn about breast cancerGuideline for breast cancer survivors Breast cancer survivors who are smokers and continue to smoke after their diagnosis are more likely to die from breast cancer than breast cancer survivors who have never been smokers, according to findings from the Collaborative Breast Cancer Study. The smokers were also more likely to die from respiratory cancer, respiratory disease, or cardiovascular disease. The Collaborative Breast Cancer Study was conducted by the University of Wisconsin, Dartmouth College, and Harvard University. It involved more than 20,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1988 and 2008. It is the largest study of length of survival according to smoking habits in women with a history of breast cancer, and the first study to look at smoking habits both before and after diagnosis with breast cancer. The study compared the causes of death among 4 groups: women who never smoked, women who smoked but quit at least 1 year before diagnosis, women who smoked and quit after diagnosis, and women who smoked and continued to smoke after diagnosis. The highest risks of death as a result of breast cancer were observed among long-term smokers, women who smoked heavily, or former smokers who quit fewer than 5 years before their breast cancer diagnosis. About 10% of the women were smokers who kept smoking after diagnosis, which is consistent with a study by American Cancer So...
Source: American Cancer Society :: News and Features - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Breast Cancer Smoking/Tobacco Source Type: news