Elevated risk in men and older individuals; increases with intensity, duration of smoking
TUESDAY, Sept. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Current cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk of developing Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), with an elevated risk for men and older individuals, which increases with intensity and duration of smoking, according to a meta-analysis published online Sept. 12 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Jorge J. Castillo, M.D., from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I., and colleagues, reviewed available literature through December 2010 to evaluate the potential association between smoking and HL. A meta-analysis of 17 observational studies was performed. The outcomes were calculated and reported as odds ratios (ORs), and heterogeneity as an I² index. Publication bias and quality assessment were evaluated by a trim-and-fill analysis and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale, respectively.
The investigators found that current smokers had an OR of 1.35 for developing HL, with no increased risk of HL among former smokers. In subset analyses, ORs of HL for men and older individuals were 1.78 and 1.77, respectively. Individuals who smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day, those who smoked for more than 20 years, or those who had smoked more than 15 pack-years had an increased risk of HL (OR, 1.51, 1.84, and 1.97, respectively). The relative OR of HL in meta-regression analyses was 1.007 per cigarette per day, and 1.013 per year of smoking.
"Smoking seems to increase the odds of developing HL in current smokers. The risk of HL is higher in men and older individuals and increases with higher intensity and longer duration of smoking," the authors write.
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