Introduction:
It has been proven that tobacco is the most dangerous single risk factor for development of many chronic diseases, cancer or early death. Tobacco smoke has more than 7000 chemicals, at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer. Although quit smoking medications – substitution therapy has been approved and officially acknowledged as well as programs for stop smoking, the smoking rate is still very high. More than 1/6 of world population (1.1 billion) are smokers. The aim of this work is to present the importance of carrying out stop smoking programs for patients dealing with cancer.

Methods:
The analysis of epidemiological situation of malignant disease is based on information of incidence and mortality as well as on smoking impacts.

Results:
Researches show that larger part of oncological patients recognizes smoking as harmless and determination of diagnosis motivates these patients to stop smoking. Estimations show that 38% to 65% of cancer patients stop smoking in the first year after confirming diagnosis. Quitting smoking during oncological treatment is related to: better treatment response, reduced risk of complications, better quality of life and reduced risk of disease progression. Quitting smoking among oncological patients will affect long-term health as well by reducing risks of development of other diseases (heart attack, stroke).

Conclusions:
All patients disregarding the stage of disease during oncological treatment may benefit from smoking cessation and have a right to quitting smoking treatment. Health care workers may improve motivation and influence quitting by providing help, giving advice and prescribing medications.