One of the most interesting things I've noticed about lung cancer patients is that many continue to smoke after their diagnosis. Many subscribe to the philosophy that they "might as well keep smoking" since they already have cancer.
But a new study, has debunked that thinking. In the linked article it is stated that continued nicotine use seriously reduced chemotherapy effectiveness. This even applies to smoking cessation products that contain nicotine.
I haven't had a chance to discuss this with our Med Oncs yet but it will be interesting to see if they use this information to attempt to convince all of their patients to cease smoking before chemotherapy begins.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Intersting blog and interesting bit of research. Are we now a few steps away from deciding which patiets to target with chemo ... not only based on cell type, but also on smoking habits?
We need to recognize here that smokers who say they don't want to quit are fighting one of the most powerful addictions. It's NOT a matter of being stubborn, but of the addiction have a stubborn hold on that person. I smoked for 25 years. It was the hardest thing I've ever done to quit. I've been smokefree now for 10 plus years, yet if given a chance, I'd start again in a minute--maybe particularly so if told I had cancer. I've known ex-smokers who have said if they were told they were going to die tomorrow, they'd begin smoking again today.
Post a Comment