A new study finds, however, that nearly 20 percent of lung cancer patients continue to smoke even though doing so may jeopardize their recovery and long term health outcome.
Scientists say the biggest issue is fatalism: the belief that it is too late to quit smoking, so why bother.
Doctors say there are benefits to quitting after a diagnosis that have important implications for survival, response to treatments and quality of life.
The study appears in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
