Smoking habits and prostate cancer: a case-control study in northern Italy

Cigarette smoking has been associated with increased risk for prostate cancer in 2/13 case-control studies and 4/12 cohort studies conducted on this topic. The relationship between tobacco smoking and prostate cancer was further studied in a hospital-based case-control study in northern Italy.

Two hundred seventy-one cases of histologically confirmed prostate cancer and 685 controls were interviewed during their hospital stay about smoking habits and various other covariates. Controls comprised a group of males admitted to the same hospitals as the cases, but with acute conditions exclusive of malignant tumors, urological diseases, or any condition known to be related to tobacco or alcohol consumption. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals from logistic regression equations were reported for all smoking characteristics.

No increased risk was found among the current smokers (odds ratio = 0.9; 95% confidence interval, 0.6-1.4), or the ex-smokers (odds ratio = 0.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.1). No trend in risk emerged with number of cigarettes smoked per day (odds ratio = 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-2.0 for smokers of 30 or more cigarettes compared with nonsmokers). Similarly, long duration of smoking habit, early smoking onset, and consumption of high-tar cigarettes were not associated with prostate cancer.

The present study did not demonstrate any association between prostate cancer and various measures of tobacco smoking.