Many studies have demonstrated the benefits that smoking cessation has for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. Stopping smoking improves cancer treatment outcomes, lowers mortality, and reduces the risk of subsequent cancers. And now, a recent study (1) has found that people who have been diagnosed with cancer, and who stop smoking, seem to suffer less with severe pain than those who continue to smoke after diagnosis.
The study by researchers in Japan selected patients diagnosed with cancer who had six or more annual health check-ups. They utilized strong opiate use as a measure of pain. Opiate use can be difficult to accurately survey in a large population. However, because Japan regulates and reports opiate use more strictly than many other countries, this made the study more viable. The study also did not include people who had a history of opiate use disorder, nor people who were receiving opiates at end-of-life care in the analysis, both of which could confound using opiates as a proxy for pain. Among these patients, 37% of those who continued to smoke were receiving strong opiates, compared with 24% among those who successfully quit.
Prior studies have found a strong association between tobacco use and pain (2); but it has been difficult to establish that smokers who quit experience less pain after stopping. This study, however, indicates that stopping smoking does make a difference, and adds to the large body of evidence that points to the importance of helping people who have cancer to become tobacco free.
Share with us in the comments on how pain has improved since quitting.
Michael V. Burke, Ed.D
Program Director and NDC Counselor/ CTTS
Photo by Fa Barboza
References:
- Taniguchi C, Narisada A, Tanaka H, Iida H, Iida M, Mori R, et al. (2022) Smoking cessation after cancer diagnosis reduces the risk of severe cancer pain: A longitudinal cohort study. PLOS ONE 17(8): e0272779. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0272779
- Yu Shi, Toby N. Weingarten, Carlos B. Mantilla, W. Michael Hooten, David O. Warner; Smoking and Pain: Pathophysiology and Clinical Implications. Anesthesiology 2010; 113:977–992 doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0b013e3181ebdaf9
