Secondhand smoking increases bladder cancer risk in nonsmoking population: a meta-analysis

Tobacco smoking has been widely acknowledged to be the most important risk factor for bladder cancer. However, whether secondhand smoking (SHS) increases the risk of bladder cancer still remains uncertain. We conducted a meta-analysis about the risk of bladder cancer and lifetime SHS and childhood SHS.

We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) up to March 12, 2018, and checked references of the retrieved articles and relevant reviews to include 14 studies. Relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess this risk.

The pooled RR of 14 eligible studies based on the retrieved articles and relevant reviews illustrated a significantly increased risk of bladder cancer with RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.06-1.4. No heterogeneity or publication bias was found. But we need more evidence to prove a more reliable association between childhood SHS and bladder cancer.

There was a statistically significant 22% increased risk of bladder cancer for lifetime SHS exposure in nonsmoking patients compared with unexposed nonsmoking population. But the association between childhood SHS exposure compared with unexposed nonsmoking population was unclear. Further research should be conducted to confirm our findings and reveal the potential biological mechanisms.