Honestly no one knows... K. harry. I am sure there are stats but the accuracy is questionable. Since lichen planus can go undetected. And they don't even know what causes it.


ON ANOTHER NOTE:

I know that someone said that smoking cessation will not stop cancer in it's tracks I feel I have to address this.

Smoking after a cancer dx does several things.

Will quitting make the cancer go away...? NO... Its not going to miraculously clear up after you give up smoking - however...

Smoking is an irritant. It is full of poisons and toxins. If you have oral cancer each puff damages an already damaged area - making it worse!! supporting the environment and speeding that cancer along.

It is fact, NOT supposition that certain cancers LOVE an oxygen free environment. Smoking decreases overall oxygen intake. Instead of allowing O2 to bind to the red blood cells CO2 binds to them instead meaning your O2 lower and is unable to travel to distant locals... therefore you are supporting the tumor's growth environment.

O2 is a source of healing. Poor healing is often associated with poor tissue perfusion caused by poor blood flow (circulation),& therefore poor O2 and other fun stuff.

Radiation cooks you - literally... so you have an open wound, that will have more difficulty healing, and will be severely irritated and you are going to add smoking to the mix? bad idea.

I read a study a while back - mentioned it the other day - that people who continued to smoke through radiation had a very poor overall survival rate after 5 years... the difference was between 20-35% less. (the actual number was abysmal for smokers like 5% were still alive after 5 years)

Finally - drs are human... We know they are supposed to be impartial. However, you have a patient who is - say a young mom and no precursors for this disease... not a smoker - not a drinker. And another patient who is a smoker, and drinker and not willing to ditch those habits to survive... who you gonna work harder for? remember - surgeons have a finite number of hours in the OR - when booking patients they consider cure potential, as well as other factors. Same with rads and chemo... who you going to push to get in first? Regardless of whether we like it or not... there is a bias.

Plus smoking can kill you... my mom was a 3 pack a day smoker and died at 59 from lung cancer.