HHS HealthBeat (June 25, 2010)

Health habits and blood cancer

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

People who smoke and are obese have a higher risk of getting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Now researchers have looked at the risk of dying among people who had those health practices before they contracted this cancer of the white blood cells.

The researchers examined survival data on close to 1,300 patients followed up to nine years after diagnosis. At the Mayo Clinic, James Cerhan:

"Non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients who smoked cigarettes, were obese, or who drank higher levels of alcohol had poorer overall survival."  (8 seconds)

Cerhan says changing those health habits might improve patients’ survival, but studies haven’t established it yet, so he recommends patients talk with their doctors, particularly if they are being treated.

The study in the journal Cancer was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss

Last revised: November 21, 2011