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The contribution of cigarette smoking to bladder cancer in women (pooled European data)

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Abstract

Background: Using a combined analysis of 11 case–control studies from Europe, we have investigated the relationship between cigarette smoking and bladder cancer in women.

Methods: Available smoking information on 685 female bladder cancer cases and 2416 female controls included duration of smoking habit, number of cigarettes smoked per day, and time since cessation of smoking habit for ex-smokers.

Results: There was an increasing risk of bladder cancer with increasing duration of smoking, ranging from approximately a two-fold increased risk for a duration of less than 10 years (odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–3.1) to over a four-fold increased risk for a duration of greater than 40 years (OR = 4.1, 95% CI 3.0–5.5). A dose–response relationship was observed between number of cigarettes smoked per day and bladder cancer up to a threshold limit of 15–20 cigarettes per day, OR = 3.8 (95% CI 2.7–5.4), after which no increased risk was observed. An immediate decrease in risk of bladder cancer was observed for those who gave up smoking. This decrease was over 30% in the immediate 1–4 years after cessation, OR = 0.68 (95% CI 0.38–1.2). However, even after 25 years the decrease in risk did not reach the level of the never-smokers, OR = 0.27 (95% CI 0.21–0.35).

Conclusion: The proportion of bladder cancer cases among women attributable to ever smoking was 0.30, (0.25–0.35) and to current smoking was 0.18 (0.14–0.22). These attributable proportions are less than those observed among men, although they are likely to increase in the future as the smoking-related disease epidemic among women matures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Environmental Cancer Epidemiology, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 cours Albert Thomas, Lyon, 69372, France

    Paul Brennan & Olivier Bogillot

  2. Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine, Bremen, Germany

    Eberhard Greiser & Paolo Boffetta

  3. German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany

    Jenny Chang-Claude, Jürgen Wahrendorf & Walter Schill

  4. National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France

    Sylvaine Cordier

  5. Biometry and Epidemiology, Institute for Medical Informatics, Essen, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Jöckel

  6. Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, National Centre for Epidemiology, Madrid, Spain

    Gonzalo Lopez-Abente

  7. Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Anastasia Tzonou

  8. Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Paolo Vineis

  9. Italy

    Francesco Donato

  10. Epidemiology Institute, Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France

    Martine Hours

  11. Center for Studies, Medical Programs and Services, Parc Tauli Foundation, Sabadell, Spain

    Consol Serra

  12. Hesse Ministry for Women, Employment and Social Affairs, Wiesbaden, Germany

    Ulrich Bolm-Audorff

  13. Municipal Institute of Medical Investigation, Barcelona, Spain

    Manolis Kogevinas

Authors
  1. Paul Brennan
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  2. Olivier Bogillot
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  3. Eberhard Greiser
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  4. Jenny Chang-Claude
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  5. Jürgen Wahrendorf
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  6. Sylvaine Cordier
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  7. Karl-Heinz Jöckel
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  8. Gonzalo Lopez-Abente
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  9. Anastasia Tzonou
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  10. Paolo Vineis
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  11. Francesco Donato
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  12. Martine Hours
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  13. Consol Serra
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  14. Ulrich Bolm-Audorff
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  15. Walter Schill
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  16. Manolis Kogevinas
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  17. Paolo Boffetta
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Brennan, P., Bogillot, O., Greiser, E. et al. The contribution of cigarette smoking to bladder cancer in women (pooled European data). Cancer Causes Control 12, 411–417 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011214222810

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