Smoking ‘can inhibit effectiveness of breast cancer treatment’

A common treatment for breast cancer can be rendered less effective if the patient continues to smoke during therapy, according to a new study.

The research from Lund University in Sweden has indicated that aromatase inhibitors, which works by preventing the body from generating oestrogen in fatty tissue, function less well in patients who smoke compared to non-smokers.

A total of 1,016 patients in southern Sweden who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 and 2012 were followed, revealing that smokers treated with aromatase inhibitors were three times more likely to see their breast cancer recur compared to non-smokers who got the same treatment.

Smokers also had an increased risk of dying, either from the breast cancer or from other illnesses, over the course of the study period.

Despite this risk, it was shown that of the 206 smokers involved in the study, only ten percent stopped smoking in the first year after their surgery, making it impossible to ascertain whether quitting smoking during treatment had any effect.

Helena Jernstrom, associate professor and researcher on the study, said: "Smoking is not health-promoting in any way, after all, so it is always beneficial to stop. But these findings show that patients who smoke need more support and encouragement to quit."