Smoking and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes in a cohort of older women

Alex S. Parker, James R. Cerhan, Fred Dick, John Kemp, Thomas M. Habermann, Robert B. Wallace, Thomas A. Sellers, Aaron R. Folsom

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has not been considered to be a smoking-related malignancy, recent investigations suggest otherwise. We evaluated this association in a cohort of 37,336 women, aged 55-69 years, who reported in a mailed questionnaire in 1986 information regarding smoking history as well as demographic, medical history and dietary factors. Cancer and mortality experience through 1996 was determined by linkage to the Iowa Cancer Registry and other databases; there were 200 incident cases of NHL during the 380,231 total person-years of follow-up. Compared to never smokers, former (age-adjusted RR = 1.0; 95% CI 0.8-1.5) and current smokers (age-adjusted RR = 1.0; 95% CI 0.7-1.5) were not at elevated risk of NHL, and there was no trend with pack-years smoked (p(trend) = 0.3). Multivariate adjustment for other NHL risk factors did not alter these findings. Age-adjusted analysis by NHL subtype revealed a suggestive positive association of smoking with follicular NHL [(RR(former) = 1.3; 95% CI 0.6-2.8), (RR(current) = 1.8; 95% CI 0.8-3.8)], which strengthened after multivariate adjustment [(RR(former) = 1.6; 95% CI 0.7-3.4), (RR(current) = 2.3; 95% CI 1.0-5.0)]; there was no association for diffuse or small cleaved-cell NHL. Our study findings, which are consistent with other recent investigations, suggest that smoking may be associated with an increased risk of follicular NHL.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)341-349
Number of pages9
JournalLeukemia and Lymphoma
Volume37
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2000

Keywords

  • Cohort study
  • Etiology
  • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
  • Smoking

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hematology
  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Smoking and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes in a cohort of older women'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this