Smokers who kick the habit before age 45 can nearly eliminate their excess risk of dying from lung or other cancers, a new study of more than 400,000 smokers estimates.
Smokers died of cancer at three times the rate of nonsmokers. However, smokers who managed to quit by age 45 lowered that excess risk by 87%. And if they overcame the habit by age 35, their excess risk of cancer death was erased, said Blake Thomson, a researcher at the American Cancer Society who led the study.
The younger people started smoking, the greater their risk of eventually dying from cancer. Among those who started before age 18, the risk of dying from cancer was increased at least three-fold.
See “Quit Smoking Before 45 & Wipe Out 87% of Lung Cancer Risk” by Amy Norton on the U.S. News & World Report website (October 25, 2021)
