News & Information

Stay informed this November – it’s Lung Cancer Awareness Month! If you’re a smoker, you should be thinking seriously about your risks for lung cancer, and about how tobacco could be harming your overall health. Visit http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/ for a list of ways to fight lung cancer this month.

Tobacco isn’t just a bad idea before a lung cancer diagnosis – it’s a bad idea afterwards. What’s more, quitting smoking after you’ve been diagnosed with lung cancer means you’re twice as likely to survive.

According to a 2010 study in the respected medical journal BMJ, patients who stop smoking after their cancer diagnosis live longer than patients who refused to quit. The researchers found that 64-70% of the  “quitters” survived the five-year mark after diagnosis, compared to only 29-33% of the smokers.

Patients who kept on smoking after their diagnosis had a much higher rate of metastasized (spreading) cancer, as well as a much higher death rate.

Clearly, it would have been better if these patients had stopped smoking before they were diagnosed with lung cancer – but the survival rates for post-cancer “quitters” are astonishing and encouraging. Wherever you are in the lung cancer journey – a smoker who hasn’t been diagnosed or a current cancer patient – quitting smoking is definitely a good idea.

For helpful tips on how to quit today, visit http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/preparetoquit/a/quitsmkingtools.htm. You just might save your life.

If you’re a smoker, you’re at risk for lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, “For smokers the risk is much higher, while for non-smokers the risk is lower.”(3) If lung cancer might be in your future, taking out a cancer insurance policy would be a wise decision today. CancerInsurance.com offers a wide range of supplemental policies that pay a lump sum benefit upon first diagnosis of lung cancer. Don’t wait – protect yourself today.

(1) http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20100121/smokers-with-lung-cancer-not-too-late-to-quit

(2) http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/preparetoquit/a/quitsmkingtools.htm

(3) http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lungcancer-non-smallcell/detailedguide/non-small-cell-lung-cancer-key-statistics