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Non-smokers with lung cancer fare better

HOUSTON, April 24 (UPI) -- Lung-cancer patients who never smoked have better survival rates and respond better to chemotherapy than current or former smokers, says a U.S. study.

Dr. Anne S. Tsao, of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reviewed the medical records of 1,370 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who were treated with chemotherapy or chemo-radiation to determine an association between smoking and treatment response and survival.

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The researchers found that patients who never smoked had a better response to the chemotherapy; developed less disease progression during therapy; and showed improved survival over former and current smokers.

They say the finding may be due to non-smokers having less genetic damage compared to smokers, being less likely to have other ailments that would affect survival and having better preserved lung function.

"Continued efforts at preventing smoking initiation are a critical public health issue and emphasize the need for chemoprevention for smokers and primary-prevention protocols to prevent smoking," the authors write in the June 1 issue of Cancer.

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