Cancer patients: quit smoking

It may seem like a no-brainer, but Yale Cancer Center experts and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) are calling on doctors to advise their patients to quit smoking after being diagnosed with cancer—any cancer. Patients who smoke have worse outcomes than those who quit, and quitting smoking improves the efficacy of cancer treatments, reduces risk for future cancers, and enhances rates of survival. This is true for many cancers, not just lung cancer. The experts made their call in a statement released at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 in Washington, D.C. “It is crucial that all oncologists in any setting both assess tobacco use and take ownership of ensuring that their patients receive appropriate treatment for their tobacco use,” said Benjamin A. Toll, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry, director of the smoking cessation program at Yale Cancer Center, and chair of the committee charged with writing the AACR policy statement.