Smoking is even more injurious and spread-able when you have breast cancer!
Smoking is a major risk factor for all cancers, but it is now reported that women with breast cancer who smoke or have a history of smoking, have high risk of the breast cancer spreading to the lungs. Breast cancer in advanced stages, usually spread to different organs, such as the liver, brain, bones, and lungs. However, the risk of its spread to the lungs is drastically increased if the women is a smoker or has a history of smoking.
The results emanated from a study that involved 1,077 breast cancer patients. It was found that current smokers or former smokers have a higher incidence of lung metastasis compared to patients who never smoked. It was postulated that smoking built an inflammatory environment in the lungs, making it ripe for growth of the cancer cells that migrate from the breast cancer. Even after a month of quitting smoking, the risk of cancer spread did not reduce.
The study results add to the already existing body of literature that establishes a strong association between smoking and cancer.
The implications of the study results include smoking cessation strategies in women who are at high risk of breast cancer, or who are already diagnosed with breast cancer. Whenever possible, professional help should be sought to quit smoking
Source:
Julie Elbaek Pedersen, Katrine Strandberg-Larsen, Michael Andersson, Johnni Hansen. Occupational exposure to solar ultraviolet B radiation and risk of subtypes of breast cancer in Danish women. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2021; oemed-2020-107125 DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2020-107125
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