(Press-News.org) Embargoed for release: Friday, May 5, 2023, 11:00 AM ET
Key points:
Among those diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer—the most common form of lung cancer—current smokers had 68% higher mortality and former smokers had 26% higher mortality compared to never smokers
The longer a patient had gone without smoking pre-diagnosis, the more improved their odds of survival were
The study is one of few to examine mortality not just among current and never smokers, but also among former smokers—enabling more robust findings about the impacts of smoking cessation
Boston, MA—Quitting smoking early was associated with higher survival rates following a lung cancer diagnosis, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Compared to those who never smoked and were being treated for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), current smokers had 68% higher mortality and former smokers had 26% higher mortality.
“Our participants’ smoking histories varied, with some having stopped smoking a few years before their diagnosis and others having stopped several decades before,” said senior author David Christiani, Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics. “This wide range gave us confidence in our results—that the benefit of pre-diagnosis smoking cessation persists even after lung cancer is diagnosed.”
The study will be published online in JAMA Network Open on May 5, 2023.
While most similar research has compared mortality among current smokers and never smokers, the majority of the study’s participants were former smokers, allowing the researchers to focus on the impacts of smoking cessation.
The study followed 5,594 patients with NSCLC—which accounts for 85% of all lung cancer cases—enrolled in the Boston Lung Cancer Survival Cohort at Massachusetts General Hospital between 1992 and 2022. Of these participants, 795 had never smoked; 3,308 were former smokers; and 1,491 were current smokers. Participants completed questionnaires about their smoking habits and other health and demographic information at baseline, with the researchers checking in on their survival every 12 to 18 months. During the study period, 3,842 of the participants died: 79.3% of the current smokers, 66.8% of the former smokers, and 59.6% of the never smokers.
While never smoking was associated with the best odds of survival after a lung cancer diagnosis, the findings showed significant associations between lower mortality and having quit smoking pre-diagnosis. The longer a patient went without smoking, the more health benefits they accrued: For former smokers, doubling the years of smoking cessation before their lung cancer diagnosis was significantly associated with prolonged survival. Conversely, doubling smoking-pack years was associated with shorter survival among current and former smokers diagnosed with NSCLC.
The researchers noted that associations between survival and smoking history may vary depending on the clinical stage at which lung cancer was diagnosed, and that the study did not account for the different kinds of treatment participants were receiving.
Other Harvard Chan School co-authors included Xinan Wang, Christopher Romero-Gutierrez, and Jui Kothari.
Funding for the study came from National Cancer Institute grant 5U01CA209414.
“Prediagnosis smoking cessation and overall survival among patients with non-small cell lung cancer,” Xinan Wang, Christopher W. Romero-Guttierez, Jui Kothari, Andrea Shafer, Yi Li, David C. Christiani, JAMA Network Open, online May 5, 2023, doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.11966
Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings.
###
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people’s lives—not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America’s oldest professional training program in public health.
END
Quitting smoking early linked with improved survival rates for people diagnosed with lung cancer
2023-05-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Pre-diagnosis smoking cessation and overall survival among patients with non–small cell lung cancer
2023-05-05
About The Study: In this study of patients with non–small cell lung cancer, quitting smoking early was associated with lower mortality following a lung cancer diagnosis, and the association of smoking history with overall survival may have varied depending on clinical stage at diagnosis, potentially owing to the differing treatment regimens and efficacy associated with smoking exposure following diagnosis. Detailed smoking history collection should be incorporated into future epidemiological and clinical studies to improve lung cancer ...
Perceived cognitive deficits in patients with SARS-CoV-2 and their association with long COVID
2023-05-05
About The Study: The findings of this study of 766 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection suggest that patient-reported perceived cognitive deficits in the first 4 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection are associated with post–COVID-19 condition (PCC; colloquially known as long COVID) symptoms and that there may be an affective component to PCC in some patients. The underlying reasons for PCC merit additional exploration.
Authors: Neil Wenger, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of California, Los Angeles, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.11974)
Editor’s ...
Adolescents, young adults with advanced heart disease show desire to take active role in medical care decisions
2023-05-05
Adolescents and young adults with advanced heart disease are at high risk of dying in the hospital, often require invasive treatment and experience significant symptoms that impact their quality of life.
And while most of their parents prefer that decision making about their treatment and care options remain between parents and physicians, many young people want to be actively involved in medical decisions affecting them, a new study suggests.
“As a pediatric psychologist, I have found that healthcare communication is one of the most critical – yet most underappreciated ...
UCLA researchers find possible link between self-perceived cognition deficits and symptomatic long COVID
2023-05-05
People who perceived that they had cognitive difficulties such as memory problems during COVID were more likely to have lingering physical manifestations of the disease than people who did not report cognitive issues, new UCLA research suggests.
More than one in three people experiencing long COVID symptoms perceived such cognitive deficits, which have been found to be related to anxiety and depression.
The findings indicate that psychological issues such as anxiety or depressive disorders may ...
Human hippocampus theta oscillations code goal distance during spatial navigation
2023-05-05
A research team led by Dr. WANG Liang from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found that right hippocampal theta power hierarchically encodes the distance between the current position and a goal destination.
The study was published online on May 5 in Current Biology.
Successful navigation to a goal is crucial for animals in nature as well as for humans in modern life. Computational models show that goal-directed navigation computes the Euclidean distance to the goal. Multi-scale representation of goal distance is extremely efficient and less susceptible to interference from background noise than single-scale coding. ...
Calls for more positive health messaging around fertility
2023-05-05
The language used to communicate fertility awareness should be more empathetic and target both men and women, finds a new study involving UCL researchers.
The review, published in Human Reproduction Open, gives five recommendations on how to promote fertility awareness in a more positive way.
While education about fertility is not intrinsically controversial, finding the right language to address the topic can be difficult – with the risk of causing negative effects such as anxiety, culpability, and stigma.
After reviewing previous studies and literature on the subject, the team were particularly keen to resolve issues around language that could evoke feelings of personal blame, ...
ICTA-UAB demands the European Parliament to take action to fight pollution in the Mediterranean Sea
2023-05-05
The implementation of effective policies at local and regional level, and the cooperation of all countries in the Mediterranean Sea basin is urgently needed to successfully reverse the environmental problems in this marine area. This is evidenced by a report carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) presented in the European Parliament by oceanographer Patrizia Ziveri, who stresses the need to urgently fight against the growing pollution caused by marine litter and plastics in the Mediterranean, to improve current legislation and to monitor new pollutants that ...
Two ERC proof of concept grants for the University of Bonn
2023-05-05
Two researchers from the University of Bonn have been awarded a Proof of Concept Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) as part of a program designed to help researchers translate their ideas from previous ERC projects into commercial applications. Biologist Prof. Dr. Bernardo S. Franklin from the University Hospital Bonn and physicist Prof. Dr. Simon Stellmer will thus each receive €150,000 over a period of around one year.
Prof. Dr. Bernardo S. Franklin from the Institute for Innate Immunity and the ImmunoSensation2 Cluster of Excellence studies hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which develop into different blood cells through ...
Smart artificial skin in application check stage: Graz University of Technology researcher wins ERC Proof of Concept grant
2023-05-05
Just a few months ago, Anna Maria Coclite and her team from the Institute of Solid State Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) presented the results of their research as part of Coclite’s ERC Starting Grant project “SmartCore”. They had succeeded in developing the three-in-one “smart skin” hybrid material, which closely resembles human skin by simultaneously sensing pressure, moisture and temperature and converting them into electronic signals. With 2,000 individual ...
Uncovering the mysteries of alfalfa seed dormancy through multispectral imaging analysis
2023-05-05
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), commonly called the “King of Grass,” is a legume grown in many parts of the world as a source of animal fodder. It is prized in the forage industry for its high protein content and biomass yield. Recently, alfalfa protein has found applications in aquaculture, pet food industry and human diet. Furthermore, it is seen as an environmentally beneficial crop, with positive impacts on biodiversity and soil nitrogen conservation.
Alfalfa produces two seed types—hard and non-hard—with no obvious visible differences. Unfortunately, the hard seeds ...