Smokers with Breast Cancer Twice as Likely to Die than Non-Smokers

Newswise — For women undergoing treatment for early breast cancer, those who smoke are more than twice as likely to die than non-smokers or those who quit, according to a new study presented in Salt Lake City today at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

The study, the first to examine the effect of smoking on long-term outcomes of breast cancer patients treated with conservative surgery and radiation, finds that women who continue to smoke during therapy are 2.5 times more likely to die from the cancer than are women with no smoking history. But if women stop smoking before treatment, their risks of dying are the same as women who never smoked.

"While smoking is a putative risk factor for developing breast cancer, its impact on treatment results has been uncertain," said lead author Khanh H. Nguyen, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Center. "Our findings suggest that women undergoing breast cancer therapy should consider smoking cessation to improve their chance of survival. Physicians and support staff should encourage and assist patients in this challenging ordeal."

The study examined 1,039 non-smokers and 861 smokers from March 1970 to December 2002 who underwent conservation therapy for breast cancer. The median follow-up of the patients was 65 months. Local control, distant metastases, deaths from breast cancer and overall survival were compared. Univariate analysis was performed comparing outcomes of "any smokers," "current smokers" and "non-smokers."

"Even after we adjusted for different prognostic factors, those who continued to smoke during treatment did not live as long as those who had stopped," said Dr. Nguyen. "Our study suggests that smoking cessation remains an integral component in the comprehensive management of breast cancer."

The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with 7,000 members who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As a leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the Society's mission is to advance the practice of radiation oncology by promoting excellence in patient care, providing opportunities for educational and professional development, promoting research and disseminating research results and representing radiation oncology in a rapidly evolving socioeconomic healthcare environment.