From the Journals: Nearly 10 percent of Cancer Survivors Still Smoke

August 13, 2014 by

A report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, illustrates the prevalence of smoking among cancer survivors.

Researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) report that nearly 10 percent of cancer survivors were still smoking nine years after their diagnosis, including 14.9 percent of lung cancer patients. (See the full chart below.)

This chart shows the number of cancer patients still smoking nine years after diagnosis.

Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, chief of medical oncology at Yale University Cancer Center, is chair of the AACR Tobacco and Cancer Subcommittee. He said the ACS findings were illustrative of the problem outlined in the AACR’s recent policy statement on tobacco, which recommended that smoking cessation be part of any cancer treatment.

Read the press release, which was covered in TIME, USA Today, and HealthDay.