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Smoking increases risk for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
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While smoking increases the odds for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma by more than 50%, it does not appear to change the risk for basal cell carcinoma, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Researchers used four electronic databases, dating from 1910 to 2010, to compile comparative observational epidemiologic studies. They identified 2,189 publications and, based on titles, they found 129 were potentially eligible. After reviewing abstracts, researchers selected 49 full articles and whittled those down to 25 studies that met review criteria. The studies included men and women aged 18 years and older without regard for ethnicity.
Five studies used a cohort design; the others were case-control designs. To determine smoking, 11 studies used questionnaires and 14 relied on in-person or telephone interviews.
Researchers reviewed eight studies that evaluated the relationship between smoking and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In a pooled analysis of six studies, smoking was found to be significantly associated with SCC (OR=1.52; 95% CI, 1.15-2.01; I2=64%). Reporting methods precluded the other two studies from meta-analysis. One showed no increase in the risk for SCC with smoking; the other study showed that smoking more than doubled the odds for cutaneous SCC.
The researchers’ systematic review and meta-analysis showed a 52% increase in the odds between smoking and cutaneous SCC.
Researchers also examined 16 studies that looked at the relationship between smoking and basal cell carcinoma (BCC); 14 found no significant association between smoking and BCC risk (OR=0.95; 95% CI, 0.82-1.09; I2=59%). Due to reporting style, the other two studies were excluded from meta-analysis.
Two studies that examined the relationship between smoking and nonmelanoma skin cancer showed they were not significantly associated (OR=0.62; 95%CI, 0.21-1.79; I2=34%).
“Clinicians should actively survey high-risk patients’ skin to identify early skin cancers, especially as early diagnosis can improve prognosis,” Jo Leonardi-Bee, PhD, of the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, University of Nottingham, told Healio.com. “Individuals should also check their skin regularly to identify possible early skin cancers.”
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