Smoking and Ovarian Cancer Risk

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort is a multi-center prospective study initiated in 1992, and it includes questionnaires regarding dietary, lifestyle, and health factors and their relationship to cancer. Recent data from the cohort show the association between different measures of smoking exposures and subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in women from 10 European countries.³

Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) of EOC overall and serous, mucinous, and endometroid histologic subtypes, with 95% CIs associated with different measures of smoking exposures. adjusting for confounding variables.

The study identified 836 incident EOC cases among 326,831 women. Compared with never smokers, current smokers had a significantly increased risk for mucinous tumors (HR = 1.85 [95% CI, 1.08-3.16]) and those smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day had a doubling in risk (HR = 2.25 [95% CI, 1.26-4.03]) as did those who had smoked less than 15 pack-years of cigarettes (HR = 2.18 [95% CI, 1.07-4.43]).

These data further support the hypothesis that smoking increases risk of mucinous ovarian cancer. It also supports the notion that the effect of smoking varies according to histologic subtype.

Dr. Reed received her doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and currently works as a medical editor in the greater Philadelphia area.

References:

1. Ebbeling CB, Swain JF, Feldman HA, et al. Effects of dietary composition on energy expenditure during weight-loss maintenance. JAMA. 2012;307(24):2627-2634.

2. Jakicic JM, Tate DF, Lang W, et al. Effect of a stepped-care intervention approach on weight loss in adults: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2012;307(24):2617-2626.

3. Mohr DC, Ho J, Duffecy J, et al. Effect of telephone-administered vs face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy on adherence to therapy and depression outcomes among primary care patients: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2012;307(21):2278-2285.