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Lung cancer survivors who quit smoking within a year of diagnosis will live for longer than those who continue to smoke, according to new research led by the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford. The findings also revealed that general practitioners are comparatively less likely to intervene and offer stop-smoking support to cancer patients, than they are to people diagnosed with coronary heart disease. This juxtaposition has resulted in lower quit rates among cancer patients. The study, conducted in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, calls for better support for cancer patients who need help to quit smoking in the first year following diagnosis. While just over a third of lung cancer patients were smoking at diagnosis, those who stopped smoking and survived their treatment lived on average for 1.97 years, compared with 1.08 years for those who did not quit smoking after diagnosis, finds the study published in British Journal of Cancer. Dr Amanda Farley , lead author and lecturer at the University of Birmingham, said "This research indicates that it is never too late to quit smoking. Although many people think that the damage is done, our research shows that even after a diagnosis of lung cancer, people can still benefit from quitting." In linked research published in the Annals of Family Medicine, the researchers also investigate for the first time the likelihood that GPs will offer stop-smoking support, such as advice or medication, in patients with smoking-related cancer who are current smokers at the time of diagnosis, compared with current smokers diagnosed with coronary heart disease.