For more than 60 years, the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous have worked for many people with alcohol and other drug problems. Today, the therapeutic value of the steps extends far beyond the field of addiction.

Physicians, therapists and other health care professionals are finding that the steps can help people with other chronic illnesses (eg, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and mental illness) find hope and healing. There is increased recognition that a spiritual component, such as the Twelve Steps, is important in addressing mental and physical illness.

Recovery from alcoholism and other drug addiction often calls for breaking through layers of denial and shame. But people who face the task of recovery along with a diagnosis of cancer deal with an immediate threat to their sobriety.

"When people hear the word ‘cancer,' there's kind of an assumption that it's a death sentence," says Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical officer for the Hazelden Foundation. "That's not the case, since so many cancers are treatable nowadays. Yet there's still a chance that people in the midst of addiction treatment might say to themselves: ‘Why bother to get clean and sober? I'm not going to go through with it because I've got cancer.' "

There is no one right way to quit smoking. However, people who succeed at quitting consistently do the following things:

1. Set a quit date.

Setting a date too far in the future allows time to talk yourself out of quitting. To increase your odds of success, set a quit date for some time within the next 30 days. This gives you a sense of urgency and still allows time to prepare for the change.

People who want to quit smoking are most likely to succeed when they gain support. This can come from many sources--family members, friends, books, classes, counseling, medication, and more. However, only one in seven smokers reports using such resources during their last attempt to quit.

If you're a smoker, you can break this pattern. Take Nov. 16 as an opportunity to find stop-smoking strategies that work for you. That's the date of the annual Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

The idea behind this event is that quitting for one day can lead to quitting forever. And if you're willing to try, there are thousands of people who will join you on Nov. 16.