Smoking cessation cannot increase risk of deleterious tissue and biochemical change. True or false?

Question

Is there any truth to the assertion that stopping smoking after many decades of use can actually create a situation within the lungs whereby cancer is actually initiated?

Please concur with my good senses, in that despite having read this in a reputable paper, it is nonetheless false.

Answer 1

It definitely does completely the opposite of what that paper you read said. The things people will come up with!

In fact cessation of smoking reduces your cancer risk to half of what it was in 5 years - yes many tissues have already suffered much DNA damage, but once you stop adding damage, the factors that suppress tumours may yet have a chance to cause the damaged cells to die (so they won't grow into a cancerous tumour).

Answer 2

It is completely false.  Smoking cessation does not guarantee that one will not later get cancer - much damage may already have been done.  The assertion that stopping the poisoning will CAUSE damage is ludicrous.  Probably the result of misinterpretation of a study, or just bad science.

Stopping smoking produces almost immediate cardiac benefits, and pulmonary benefits in a matter of a few weeks.