Yes. The scientific evidence conclusively shows that the risk of cancer decreases after quitting smoking at any age, but the younger the age when stopping, the greater the benefit.

On average, smokers lose at least 10 years of life compared with those who have never smoked. Quitting smoking before the age of 40 years reduces the risk of a smoking-related death by about 90%. It is never too late to stop smoking; quitting at any age lowers the risk of smoking-related death compared with those who continue to smoke.

Quitting smoking also has other health benefits that you can see immediately (see Figure 5). What smokers can do to quit is described here.

Figure 5: Short- and long-term beneficial health effects observed after quitting smoking

Source: Reprinted by the permission of the American Cancer Society, Inc. All rights reserved. From www.cancer.org