(Reuters Health) - People with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who continue to smoke cigarettes may think there is no point in quitting now that they have cancer, but they're wrong.
According to new findings in these patients presented in San Francisco this week, current smokers had the lowest survival compared with previous smokers and non-smokers.
"While a significant focus in head and neck cancer has been on human papillomavirus and tumor biomarkers, it is important to recognize that smoking is still an important factor in survival outcome," Dr. Kevin S. Emerick from Harvard Medical School in Boston told Reuters Health. "We found that both nonsmokers and previous smokers have a survival advantage over current smokers."
Dr. Emerick and his colleagues reported their findings at the 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF).
They reviewed data on 2,800 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were treated at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1980 through 2008, categorizing patients by site of the primary tumor as well as by smoking status.
The study found that current smokers had the lowest survival in all disease sites except for the oral cavity. The biggest survival difference was in patients with oropharyngeal cancer. For this group, the five-year disease specific survival was 57.0% for current smokers, 86.9% for nonsmokers, and 73.9% for former smokers (p<0.001).
For laryngeal cancer, the five-year disease specific survival was 74.0% in current smokers, 87.6% in nonsmokers, and 81.8% in former smokers (p<0.05).
There were similar patterns for overall survival rates. However, smoking status did not impact on overall or disease-specific survival in oral cavity cancer, Dr. Emerick said.
"At a time when we are placing less emphasis on the importance of smoking cessation, this study is a good reminder that smoking status is important in terms of lethality," he said. "Certainly there is a benefit to quitting smoking, and knowing that there is a benefit to being in that previous smoker group is important."
According to new findings in these patients presented in San Francisco this week, current smokers had the lowest survival compared with previous smokers and non-smokers.
"While a significant focus in head and neck cancer has been on human papillomavirus and tumor biomarkers, it is important to recognize that smoking is still an important factor in survival outcome," Dr. Kevin S. Emerick from Harvard Medical School in Boston told Reuters Health. "We found that both nonsmokers and previous smokers have a survival advantage over current smokers."
Dr. Emerick and his colleagues reported their findings at the 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF).
They reviewed data on 2,800 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who were treated at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1980 through 2008, categorizing patients by site of the primary tumor as well as by smoking status.
The study found that current smokers had the lowest survival in all disease sites except for the oral cavity. The biggest survival difference was in patients with oropharyngeal cancer. For this group, the five-year disease specific survival was 57.0% for current smokers, 86.9% for nonsmokers, and 73.9% for former smokers (p<0.001).
For laryngeal cancer, the five-year disease specific survival was 74.0% in current smokers, 87.6% in nonsmokers, and 81.8% in former smokers (p<0.05).
There were similar patterns for overall survival rates. However, smoking status did not impact on overall or disease-specific survival in oral cavity cancer, Dr. Emerick said.
"At a time when we are placing less emphasis on the importance of smoking cessation, this study is a good reminder that smoking status is important in terms of lethality," he said. "Certainly there is a benefit to quitting smoking, and knowing that there is a benefit to being in that previous smoker group is important."
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