Cigarette smoking and breast cancer

BMJ 1995;310:1431-1433 (3 June)

Papers

Cigarette smoking and breast cancer

Kim Bennicke, senior registrar,^a Carsten Conrad, head physician,^a Svend Sabroe, associate professor,^b Henrik Toft Sorensen, research associate professor ^c

^a Department of Radiology, Hjorring District Hospital, DK-9800, Hjorring, Denmark, ^b Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, ^c Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Steno Institute of Public Health, Aarhus University

Correspondence to: Dr K Bennicke, Department of Radiology, Hobro District Hospital, DK-9500, Hobro, Denmark.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate cigarette smoking in relation to therisk of breast cancer.
Design: Interviews with women referred for mammography.
Setting: Hjorring District Hospital, a public, population basedhospital in Denmark.
Subjects: 3240 women aged 15-92 years referred for mammographyduring 1 June 1989 to 1 November 1991.
Main outcome measures: Smoking, parity, age, reason for referral,breast cancer.
Results: In a multiple logistic regression analysis adjustedfor six variables a pronounced increased risk of breast cancerwas found in women who had smoked for over 20 years, and thiswas significant in women who had smoked for over 30 years (oddsratio 1.6, 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 2.3). The median ageof women with breast cancer was 59 (range 31-81) years for smokersand 67 (38-92) years for nonsmokers. The difference of eightyears between the median ages was significant (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Smoking may increase the risk of breast cancer after30 years of smoking.

Key messages

Key messages
It has been suggested that smoking protects against breast cancer because of an antioestrogenic effect
This study shows, however, that women who have smoked for more than 30 years have an increased risk of developing breast cancer
Moreover, smokers with breast cancer were eight years younger than non-smokers with breast cancer

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