Cigarette Smoking and Ovarian Cancer Risk, Disease Severity, and Survival

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer deaths. Although there are mechanisms by which cigarette smoking may affect cancer risk, severity, and survival, the epidemiological link in ovarian cancer is inconsistent. The current study examines the association between smoking and ovarian cancer through a secondary data analysis of two de-identified cancer data sets: the Hormone and Ovarian cancer PrEdiction (HOPE) study and the Patient Epidemiology Data System (PEDS) study. The HOPE dataset included 902 cases with histologically confirmed primary epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer diagnosed between February 2003 and November 2008. Controls were matched by 5-year age group to cases in a ratio of approximately 2:1. The PEDS dataset included 394 cases with primary incident, invasive ovarian cancer treated at Roswell Park Cancer Institute between 1982-1998. Survival information was obtained from the institute’s tumor registry. Descriptive analyses included t-tests for differences in means between cases and controls for continuous variables, and Chi2tests for categorical variables. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Cox regression was used to compute adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals. Age started smoking, years of smoking, number of cigarettes, pack-years of smoking, and second hand smoke were not associated with ovarian cancer risk. Duration of living with smokers was associated with stage (p Presentation: 25 minute