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Excerpts from Bad news for smokers - quitting may not save them

Reuters [04/12/99]

Smokers, even those who quit years ago, have damage to their genes that can lead to cancer, scientists said on Monday.

Although many studies have shown that kicking the habit has immediate health effects, leading to a decreased risk of heart disease and cancer, it is also clear that smoking has permanent effects.

But Gazdar said that is no reason for smokers to be fatalistic and keep on smoking. ``It's not as high as people who (still) smoke, because people who smoke continue to damage their lungs,'' he said.

Another study adding to that evidence was presented to the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research on Monday.

Dr. Curtis Harris of the National Cancer Institute and colleagues examined 131 women, 121 of whom had never smoked and 10 ex-smokers.

``Even after 15 years of smoking cessation, ex-smokers have a p53 mutation frequency characteristic of current smokers,'' they told the conference.

``That implies that these genetic mutations, these kinds of changes, occur very early,'' Curtis told the news conference.

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