Current smokers, and those who have quit smoking
less than 10 years previously, have twice the risk
of a recurrence of prostate cancer after surgery,
according to new research presented at the European
Association of Urology conference in Madrid.
Prostate cancer is the third most common male cancer
in Europe, accounting for over 92,000 deaths in 2012
(9% of male deaths). Around 30% of all prostate
cancer patients treated with radical prostatectomy
experience biochemical recurrence (defined by an
increase in PSA, prostate specific antigen) within
10 years after surgery.
An international group of scientists and clinicians
from the USA and Europe retrospectively looked at
biochemical prostate cancer recurrence - in 7191 men
who had had their prostate removed by radical
prostatectomy.
Of these men, roughly a third were never smokers
(2513, or 34.9%), a third were former smokers (2269,
or 31.6%) and a third were current smokers (3409, or
33.5%). These patients were followed up for an
average of 28 months.
The results showed that after a median of 28 months,
current smokers had around double (HR 2.26) the
chance of the cancer recurring than did patients who
had never smoked. Even those who had quit smoking
within the last 10 years still had a significantly
higher risk of cancer recurrence, at about the same
level (HR 2.03) as that for current smokers. It
wasn’t until 10 years after a patient had quit
smoking that the risk of cancer recurrence dropped
significantly.
According to lead researcher Dr Malte Rieken
(University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland):
“This is a new analysis, but it seems to confirm
results we have seen in many other types of cancer:
basically, smoking increases the risk of cancer
recurrence after initial treatment. Prostate cancer
mortality varies widely throughout Europe. The fact
that cancer recurrence can vary so dramatically due
to smoking is probably one of the factors which may
contribute to differences in prostate cancer
mortality. It’s just another reason not to smoke at
all, but the fact that the risk drops after 10 years
means that anyone who has prostate cancer, would be
well advised to quit immediately”.
Commenting former EAU Secretary-General, Per-Anders
Abrahamsson (Malmo, Sweden) said:
“Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death
for man in the western world. A number of studies
have addressed how diet and environmental factors
affect the risk of prostate cancer. This is the
first report that clarifies that smoking increases
the risk of prostate cancer recurring after surgery
and, therefore, a major step forward to advise our
patients to stop smoking when diagnosed with
prostate cancer”.
For more information
European Association of Urology
EAU15 - MADRID
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