My husband's best friend just died of pancreatic cancer (he lived 17 months after diagnosis basically because he was so healthy when he was diagnosed). He was a non-smoker and light drinker. He was diagnosed a week before my husband was diagnosed with H and N cancer. I am really mixed about continuing to smoke when you have cancer. My sister-in-law (early 40's) was a heavy smoker and got lung cancer. She continued to smoke until about a week before her death. Maybe she thought it wouldn't make any difference in the cancer outcome and that she needed what smoking gave her just to cope. I do know that her children and husband felt really angry about her smoking and felt that she put her addiction to cigarettes above her feelings for them. They didn't know what to make of it- did she feel hopeless? Invulnerable? But in their eyes it will always be the cigarettes that defined her death which is sad.