A University study on the effects of smoking has good news for smokers who quit.
Researchers with the University Cancer Center have found that carcinogens, cancer-causing substances in tobacco products, disappear from the body after termination of smoking, although at a rate slower than anticipated.
“This study is significant because it shows carcinogens do disappear from the body after smoking cessation,” said Steven Hecht, director of the center. “Smokers who quit can watch carcinogens disappear from their body and that should be a motivation.”
Forty-four smokers enrolled in the study, but one person was diagnosed with lung cancer and 16 others did not complete the study because they could not abstain from smoking. Researchers, who began the study about two and a half years ago, collected urine samples from the remaining 27 paid participants before they quit smoking and up to 18 weeks afterward.
The samples were analyzed for NNAL and NNAL-Gluc, which the body manufactures from a carcinogen found in tobacco. The study shows that carcinogens remain in the body at significant levels six weeks after quitting smoking and at low levels for up to 40 weeks.
“We expected carcinogens to vanish in one week, but in fact, we could detect it in some subjects after several months,” said Stephen Hecht, director of the center.
The finding, which appears in the Feb. 1 issue of the world-renowned journal Cancer Research, leads researchers to believe the body stores and slowly releases these substances.
“The slow release of the metabolite NNAL indicates that there is a depot in the body where this carcinogen resides,” Hecht said. “If we find this depot it may help us understand how the metabolite NNAL causes lung cancer in humans.”
The Cancer Center, which was named a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute in 1998, will be continuing research, but Hecht said there are not many groups working on why tobacco causes cancer in humans.
Students at the University have differing views regarding how money should be spent to research the effects of tobacco.
“I think it’s a moot point because the Food and Drug Administration lawsuit confirmed that cigarettes are fatal to your health,” said Jamie Westervelt, a junior English major who recently ended his pack-a-day habit.
Katie Rudolph, a senior theater major, disagreed and said studies can be beneficial in preventing children from smoking. The challenge is conveying the significance of the study to kids so they don’t begin smoking, she said.
Some University students are not impressed by the new findings. “Studies don’t motivate me to quit. I already know I can get cancer from one cigarette,” said Joe Schams, a mortuary science junior.
Westervelt shrugged and said, “I’ve always thought there wouldn’t be long-term effects if you quit at a young age.”
Rudolph, who has been a social smoker for three years, said, “I know it’s not healthy for my body, but I’m young and I think I’m impervious to everything.”