Effect of cigarette smoking on epithelial ovarian cancer survival

To determine associations between smoking and survival in patients with ovarian cancer.

We performed a retrospective review of patients undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer. Abstracted patient data included age, smoking history, stage, grade, extent of cytoreduction, and survival. Data were examined with Fisher's exact test, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and Cox regression analysis.

A total of 130 patients met criteria for review. Seventeen (13%) smoked cigarettes at the time of initial laparotomy. Twenty-one (16%) were left with > 1 cm residual disease. Smoking did not correlate with the incidence of suboptimal cytoreduction. There were no statistical differences in incidence of hypertension, obesity, or coronary artery disease in smokers compared to nonsmokers. Smoking was found to negatively influence length of progression-free survival. Similarly, smokers were found to have decreased disease-specific overall survival compared to nonsmokers. Cigarette smoking retained independent significance as poor prognostic factors, after controlling for age, stage, and grade.

These findings identify a negative correlation with cigarette smoking and survival in women with ovarian cancer. Further studies are proposed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying these clinical observations.