In order to reduce the risk of lung cancer and other related cancers that are caused by smoking, smokers need to stop the habit completely, a study found. Researchers found that the amount of carcinogens inhaled by smokers remains high even when they attempt to cut down on the number of cigarettes they smoke. They also found that this applies when smokers supplement their nicotine fix with nicotine patches.

Researchers studied 100 smokers who cut back on smoking 75 percentover a six-month period of time, and were allowed to use as many nicotine patches as they wanted. Researchers analyzed the participants’ urine to measure a chemical marker for a particular cancer-causing agent found in cigarette smoke.

The urine tests showed that the decrease in the cancer compound was less than half of the drop in smoking. Researchers believe this is due to smokers inhaling more deeply on a few cigarettes to subconsciously feed their addiction.

They also found that the nicotine patches made little difference to how long and hard the smokers inhaled the cigarette smoke. The results from the study showed that participants still inhaled an unequal amount of carcinogens, regardless of how many patches they used. Researchers came up with three possibilities as to why the patch didn’t help smokers decrease the risk of cancer. They are:

• Patches don’t create the same high as cigarettes
• Smokers may be addicted to the physical act of smoking
• There are other addictive compounds found in cigarette smoke that aren’t in the patches.

Researchers advise that the best way to cut cancer risks is to quit smoking completely.

Nature January 22, 2004