Smoking is associated with pessimistic and avoidant beliefs about cancer: results from the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership

Background: Smoking cessation is the key cancer prevention behaviour for smokers; nonetheless, smokers can still benefit from earlier diagnosis of cancer. However, fewer smokers participate in screening despite their increased risk, which may reflect different beliefs about cancer. Methods: A UK population-representative sample of ⩾50 year-olds (n=6965) was surveyed using the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer measure. These analyses examine six items on cancer beliefs (e.g., ‘cancer can often be cured'), and four on help-seeking barriers (e.g., ‘I would be too embarrassed'). Results: Smokers were more likely to hold pessimistic cancer beliefs than never-smokers or former-smokers on four of six items. For example, 34% agreed ‘a cancer diagnosis is a death sentence', compared with 24% of non/former-smokers (P