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TUESDAY, Aug. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
Women smokers<\/a> already have one bad habit. A new study finds another: They’re less likely than others to go for cancer<\/a> screenings.<\/p>\n Moreover, they’re more likely to have spreading cancer<\/a> when diagnosed, according to findings.<\/p>\n For the report, researchers collected data on more than 89,000 postmenopausal<\/a> women who took part in a long-running<\/a> U.S. study.<\/p>\n More than half had never smoked; 41% were former smokers<\/a>; and 6% were current smokers, although nearly half of these women quit smoking<\/a> by the end of the study.<\/p>\n Over an average of nine years of follow-up, more than 7,000 women developed breast cancer<\/a>, 1,600 had colon cancer<\/a> and 61 had cervical cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n Compared with nonsmokers, former smokers were more likely to have regular cancer<\/a> screenings, but current smokers were much less likely to do so.<\/p>\n The report was published online Aug. 13 in the journal BMJ Open<\/i>.<\/p>\n “Concern for personal health is the most common reason given for smoking cessation<\/a> among former smokers, and may explain why this health-conscious population seeks cancer screening<\/a> more frequently than never smokers,” said researchers led by Dr. Jean Tang, a dermatology professor at Stanford School of Medicine in California.<\/p>\n “On the contrary, smokers are overly optimistic about their health and consistently underestimate the magnitude of their cancer<\/a> risk,” they said in a journal news release.<\/p>\n Compared with women who had never smoked, current smokers were 45% less likely to get screened for breast cancer<\/a>; 47% less likely to get screened for cervical cancer<\/a>, and 29% less likely to get screened for colon cancer<\/a>, the researchers found.<\/p>\n The more that former and current smokers smoked, the less likely they were to have cancer<\/a> screenings, the study revealed.<\/p>\n Not having regular screening was also linked with more advanced cancer<\/a>. Current smokers were nearly three times more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer<\/a>, and more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer, compared with those who never smoked.<\/p>\n This study can’t prove that smoking<\/a> is the reason women don’t get screening, only that there seems to be a connection.<\/p>\n — Steven Reinberg<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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