Smoking Increases Side Effect, Recurrence Risk in Prostate Cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

The fact that smoking contributes to a poor prognosis in many diseases and conditions is well-known. A recent study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City confirmed the effects on smoking on patients with prostate cancer.

Those who smoke have increased risks of experiencing treatment-related side effects and cancer recurrences, or even dying from the disease. These researchers studied 2,358 patients who underwent external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer between 1988 and 2005, of which 2,156 had a history of smoking.

Risk of cancer relapse was 40% higher and risk of metastasis and cancer-related death was more than 2-times higher in patients who were current smokers compared with patients who were never smokers.

Current and former smokers also had a higher likelihood of experiencing side effects, such as urinary toxicity, related to radiotherapy. "Less optimal tumor control outcomes among smokers could possibly be explained by the influence of less oxygen concentration within the treated tumors among smokers, which is known to lead to less sensitivity of the cells being killed off by radiation treatments," the researchers noted.