A 59-Year-Old Man Comes to the Office for a Routine

A 59-year-old man comes to the office for a routine wellness examination.  The patient's medical history includes chronic bronchitis, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and basal cell carcinoma.  He smokes a pack of cigarettes per day, with a total 40-pack-year history.  The patient typically consumes 1 or 2 cans of beer each night.  Family medical history is remarkable for heart disease and diabetes mellitus.  The patient had a normal screening colonoscopy 5 years ago.  A chest x-ray from a year ago shows changes consistent with chronic bronchitis.
The patient says he enjoys smoking very much and is reluctant to stop because he has smoked since age 19.  He asks about the benefits of smoking cessation.  What is the most appropriate response by the physician?

A) Quitting smoking now will not change his risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations or lung cancer
B) Quitting smoking now will reduce his risk for COPD exacerbations and lung cancer
C) Quitting smoking now will reduce his risk for COPD exacerbations but not lung cancer
D) Quitting smoking now will reduce his risk for lung cancer but not all-cause mortality
E) Quitting smoking now will reduce his risk for lung cancer but not for COPD exacerbations