Smoking prevents the body from fighting cancer and is 40% less likely to survive

According to research, cigarettes prevent the body from fighting deadly skin cancer.

Smokers and former smokers are 40% less likely to survive the disease ten years after diagnosis than those who have never smoked.

A link between smoking and the body's response to melanoma, most often caused by exposure to the sun, has not been found before.

The immune response of smokers seems to work, but is less effective, say researchers at the University of Leeds.

They emphasized that it was important that people give up this habit, especially if they were fighting skin cancer, which has been shown to be on the rise in the UK in recent years.

Smokers and former smokers are 40% less likely to survive the disease ten years after diagnosis than those who have never smoked

Professor Julia Newton-Bishop, lead author of the study funded by Cancer Research UK, said, "The immune system is like a multi-piece orchestra.

"This research suggests that smoking could disrupt the way it works together, allowing musicians to continue playing, but perhaps in a more disorganized way."

The study used data from more than 700 melanoma patients, which claimed 2,000 lives in the United Kingdom each year and 9,000 in the United States.

The research, published in the journal Cancer Research, found that people who have smoked have a 40% lower survival rate.

People who had already smoked were at higher risk of dying from melanoma – they were not required to smoke at the time of their illness.

However, the researchers did not specify how many cigarettes would have an impact on a person's health.

Smokers and past smokers have been compared to people who have never been hooked on cigarettes.

In a small group of 156 patients who appeared to have a genetically better immune system, smokers were about four and a half times less likely to survive than nonsmokers.

Since the reduction in survival was found to be most important for smokers in the group with the most immune cell indicators, researchers believe that smoking could directly affect the way the smoker's body treats cancerous melanoma cells.

However, because of the study plan, they can not prove that smoking was the cause of the decline in survival.

Professor Newton-Bishop said, "The result is that smokers can still develop an immune response to try to destroy melanoma, but it seems to have been less effective than non-smokers and smokers were less likely to survive. their cancer.

"Based on these findings, it is highly recommended to stop smoking in people with melanoma."

Dr. Julia Sharp, Head of Health Information at Cancer Research UK, said: "Overall, these results show that smoking could limit the chances of survival of melanoma patients. It is therefore especially important that they benefit from all possible support & # 39;

Scientists have reported in the past the harmful effects of smoking on the immune system, but it is unclear for the moment what chemicals are responsible.

There are no statistics available in the UK on stage melanoma survival.

In England and Wales, more than 90% of people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years after diagnosis, according to Cancer Research UK.

In general, survival rates are lower in men, perhaps because they are less likely to consult a GP at the beginning of their symptoms.