Almost one in 10 cancer survivors admit to smoking years after being diagnosed, researchers say.

According to a new study conducted by researchers with the American Cancer Society, the highest rates of continued smoking were among patients who suffered from bladder and lung cancer, two cancer types that are more strongly linked to smoking cigarettes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease.

Lead study researcher Lee Westmaas, PhD, and colleagues analyzed data provided through survey responses from almost 3,000 cancer survivors from a longitudinal study of adult cancer survivors. The participants were then interviewed again nine years after first being diagnosed.

Among those interviewed, 9.3 percent reported recent smoking, with 83.1 percent of the current smokers admitting to lighting up a cigarette on a daily basis.

A number of socioeconomic factors appear to be at play with smoking status. Those who continued to smoke years after their cancer diagnosis were more likely to be younger, female, lower income earners and have less well educated than those who stopped.

“Effective cessation treatment for cancer survivors exists, but future population-based studies examining the importance of psychosocial variables, and their relationships to other health-related variables in predicting current smoking or motivation to quit, will further contribute to enhancing cessation strategies for all survivors who smoke,” said Westmaas in a statement.

The findings of the study are published online in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.