NEW YORK: For people with cancer of the larynx or lower pharynx, continuing to smoke or drink alcohol make it less likely that they’ll survive, while eating a diet rich in vegetables and vitamin C improves their survival, a new study shows.

“One might think, now I that have cancer, what’s the point of stopping smoking? But there is clearly a benefit in doing that; it will improve your survival,” Dr Rajesh P. Dikshit commented to Reuters Health.

Tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and diet have all been linked to the development of cancer in the larynx, or voicebox, and the area immediately above it at the back of the throat, the hypopharynx. However, little was known about the role of these risk factors on the survival of patients with these cancers.

As they report in the International Journal of Cancer , the investigators found that smoking was the most important factor adversely affecting the patient’s survival, particularly in those patients with tumours in the larynx.

“This is a very important finding,” Dikshit told Reuters Health.

“We knew that smoking is a cause of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, but now it’s clear that it affects survival as well.” Alcohol consumption also had a negative effect on survival, but to a lesser extent than tobacco.—Reuters