As everyone knows, regular tobacco consumption is the main risk factor for developing lung cancer, and is implicated in many other cancers. But can quitting smoking really prevent this disease? Some people may even tell you that quitting smoking causes cancer. What’s really going on? We take a look at the links between smoking, smoking cessation and cancer risk.
Smoking and cancer: a disturbing finding
Lung cancer
Far ahead of other factors, tobacco is the leading cause of lung cancer. 90% of lung cancers are the result of regular smoking, particularly among women. Rich in toxic components with numerous harmful effects, cigarette smoke is highly irritating for the bronchial tubes, which produce mucus to protect themselves.
To clean the lungs, the body triggers the cough reflex. Coughing is also a factor in bronchial irritation. Permanent inflammation of bronchial cells disrupts their normal renewal. Over time, the new cells produced are of poorer quality and may turn out to be cancerous.
Other cancers
Regular smoking of manufactured or rolled cigarettes is not the only cause of lung cancer. Other cancers can also be attributed to tobacco consumption, even if it is not necessarily the main cause:
- ENT cancers, such as cancer of the mouth, sinuses, throat or larynx,
- digestive cancers, such as cancer of the esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas and colon,
- urinary tract cancers, such as bladder or kidney cancer,
- skin cancer,
- cancer of the breast, uterus or vulva,
- certain forms of leukemia.
Quitting smoking is a good way of preserving your health on all levels, not just respiratory, although it’s the effects on the lungs that are most quickly visible when you stop smoking.
What happens to the body after smoking cessation?
A well-deserved detox
The main problem with smoking is exposure to the more than 4,000 harmful substances released when a cigarette is burned, whether it has a filter or not. Crushing your “last fag” and never lighting another one puts an end to the incessant pollution to which smokers’ bodies are subjected.
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Is it possible that quitting smoking causes cancer?
On the Internet or in your circle of friends, you may come across testimonials from people who have developed cancer despite quitting smoking, and who are convinced that it is precisely smoking cessation that is the cause. Let’s be very clear: no, quitting smoking does not cause lung cancer, or any other type of cancer for that matter.
However, as we have seen, the body takes some time to repair all the damage caused by cigarettes, and it takes between 5 and 15 years for it to return to a state of fitness close to what it would have been without them. Within this timeframe, there is a risk of developing smoking-related cancer. But it’s clear that this is due to intoxication by the harmful substances in cigarette smoke, not to quitting.
To what extent does quitting smoking reduce the risk of cancer?
Deciding to stop smoking is always a good idea to preserve your health and greatly reduce the likelihood of developing lung or other cancers. Alas, it’s not enough to stop puffing on a cigarette for this eventuality to become null and void overnight. Pre-cancerous cells may already be present in the body, and are likely to develop into cancerous lesions despite withdrawal.
However, stopping smoking reduces the chances of malformed cells turning into cancer, particularly in the lungs. When you stop smoking, new cells gradually re-establish themselves in the lungs, helping to protect them against this common pathology among smokers. The longer the last cigarette, the lower the risk of cancer, although it remains higher than for non-smokers.
Smoking cessation is essential even when cancer has been diagnosed
Receiving a cancer diagnosis following a medical consultation doesn’t mean there’s no point in quitting smoking. On the contrary, it’s probably the last warning a smoker gets before it’s too late! Among other things, smoking can increase the side effects of certain anti-cancer treatments and raise the mortality rate of cancer patients. A person with lung cancer has a better chance of survival if he or she is committed to smoking cessation, even if this has only recently begun.
It's never too late to quit smoking!
What's in it for you?
As we’ve seen throughout this article, quitting smoking is one of the most powerful preventive measures against all kinds of cancer. Under no circumstances can smoking cessation be the cause of new cancerous lesions. Whether you’re simply worried about your health, or your biological test results reveal a serious pathology, there’s still time to quit smoking. Whatever your age or the length of time you’ve been smoking, weaning yourself off tobacco will put the brakes on cell degeneration and support the formation of new, healthy cells.
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