A recent study has revealed that people, who tend to quit smoking right after they are diagnosed with cancer which is still in early stages, double their chances of survival.

"The results are quite dramatic. I don't think anybody would have expected such a dramatic difference. It's incredible. The important caveat is that this is early lung cancer", said Dr. Norman Edelman, Chief Medical Officer for the American Lung Association.

Researchers noted that early stage cancer tumors have a cut rate of about 50-60%, but the unfortunate thing is that very few cancers, say about 20%, are actually diagnosed this early.

As has been shared in an editorial accompanying the published study, less than a-third of the total patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer manage to live beyond one year of diagnosis.

The best way to keep lung cancer away is, of course, to never smoke or quit as early as possible. Experts have noted that smokers who quit have a significantly lower incidence of being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The study, results of which have come after detailed analysis of data collected from as many as 10 previous studies and observations, by British researchers, as been published in the January 21 online edition of BMJ.