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Smoking Linked to Early Pancreatic Cancer
Smoking appears to accelerate the onset of pancreatic cancer, according to researchers focusing on the deadly disease.
Reuters reported Jan. 27 that the study of pancreatic cancer victims -- nearly all of whom die within a year of being diagnosed -- found that the median age for diagnosis was 73. But the median diagnosis age among current smokers was 63, while the diagnosis age for smokers who had quit was 70.
"Since the age of diagnosis of previous smokers was younger than nonsmokers, this suggests that smoking could impact upon the initiation phase," said study leader Randall Brand of Northwestern University. "Since pancreatic cancer is almost uniformly fatal, a younger age of onset means more potential years of life lost. Thus, these findings offer yet another important reason for individuals not only to stop smoking, but never to start."
Researchers looked at 18,346 pancreatic-cancer cases at 350 hospitals from the period 1993-2003. Study results were reported at a recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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