 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | It's true. If you smoked for 25 years your risk of lung cancer is the same as if you never quit. 25 years seems to be the magic number. Quitting sooner may reduce the cancer risks but I haven't seen any data. And then there is the second hand smoke issue.
I only smoked for about 5 years and still got oral cancer.
My stepmother smoked for 25 years and had quit for quit a while before she was stricken and died from lung cancer (less than 6 months from date of Dx). The docs told me the type of lung cancer she had was typical of smokers.
What does improve is heart attack and stroke risk.
Stop slamming those mutagens and carcinogens!
Gary Allsebrook
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Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
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"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
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