Prognosis after cystectomy not affected by smoking

(HealthDay)—Despite the link between cigarette smoking and the development of bladder cancer, the prognosis of people with bladder cancer after undergoing a cystectomy is not affected by cigarette smoking, according to research published online Oct. 8 in Urology.

In an effort to determine the effect of cigarette smoking on recurrence-free, cancer-specific, and overall survival, Chunwoo Lee, M.D., of the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues conducted a study involving 602 patients who had undergone radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.

The researchers found that, overall, 340 people had smoked and 159 were current smokers. For smokers and nonsmokers, the five-year recurrence-free survival rates were 62.1 and 56.8 percent, respectively. The five-year cancer-specific survival rates were 67.3 and 63.9 percent for smokers and nonsmokers, respectively. Finally, the five-year overall survival rate was 63.0 percent for smokers and 58.8 percent for nonsmokers. None of these between-group differences were statistically significant.

"The results of the present study suggest that smoking history is not a significant prognostic factor for the survival of operable patients with bladder cancer after radical cystectomy," the authors write. "However, it was not possible to ascertain whether smoking and the ensuing effects precluded some patients from undergoing radical cystectomy to begin with."