Lack of an Association between Passive Smoking and Incidence of Female Breast Cancer in Non-Smokers: Evidence from 10 Prospective Cohort Studies

Yang, Yuan; Zhang, Fan; Skrip, Laura; Wang, Yang; Liu, Shengchun

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077029

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…11 case-control studies, involving 3,230 cases and 2,982 controls, suggested a positive relationship between passive smoking and cervical cancer (OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.35–2.21) [ 15 ]. Pancreatic cancer [ 21 ], breast cancer [ 13 ], and bladder cancer were not found to be associated with passive smoking.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Health Effects of Passive Smoking: An Overview of Systematic Reviews Based on Observational Epidemiological Evidence

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeWe aim to systematically summarize the available epidemiological evidence to identify the impact of environmental tobacco smoke on health.MethodsA systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus for meta-analyses was conducted through January 2015. We included systematic reviews that investigated the association between passive smoking and certain diseases. Quantitative outcomes of association between passive smoking and the risk of certain diseases were summarized.ResultsSixteen meta-analyses covering 130 cohort studies, 159 case-control studies, and 161 cross-sectional studies and involving 25 diseases or health problems were reviewed. Passive smoking appears not to be significantly associated with eight diseases or health problems, but significantly elevates the risk for eleven specific diseases or health problems, including invasive meningococcal disease in children (OR 2.18; 95% CI 1.63–2.92), cervical cancer (OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.35–2.21), Neisseria meningitidis carriage (OR 1.68; 95% CI 1.19–2.36), Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.33–2.07), lower respiratory infections in infancy (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.33–1.51), food allergy (OR 1.43; 95% CI 1.12–1.83), and so on.ConclusionsOur overview of systematic reviews of observational epidemiological evidence suggests that passive smoking is significantly associated with an increasing risk of many diseases or health problems, especially diseases in children and cancers.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Health Effects of Passive Smoking: An Overview of Systematic Reviews Based on Observational Epidemiological Evidence

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, while the Canadian Expert Group (Collishaw et al, 2009 ; Johnson et al, 2011 ) essentially agreed with the California Environmental Protection Agency that the data demonstrate a causal relationship in premenopausal women, a more recent report (US Surgeon General, 2014 ) states that “the evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer a causal relationship between exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and breast cancer,” while the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2012 ; Secretan et al, 2009 ) note that the “evidence for breast cancer remains inconclusive” and do not include breast cancer in the list of cancers for which “sufficient evidence” has been demonstrated of a causal relationship with ETS. The review by the Oxford Group (Pirie et al, 2008 ) is even more dismissive of a causal relationship, noting (consistently with a more recent review – Yang et al, 2013 ) that the “aggregate results from studies with prospectively reported information show that the incidence of breast cancer is similar in women who did and did not report passive smoke exposure to tobacco smoke whether as a child or as an adult” and that “the aggregate results from the retrospective studies may have been distorted by some women becoming more likely to report past exposures because they knew that they had breast cancer.”…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and risk of breast cancer in nonsmoking women. An updated review and meta-analysis

Hamling

2016

Inhalation Toxicology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context: In 2006, we reviewed the evidence on environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and breast cancer in nonsmoking women. Since then various studies and reviews have been published but opinion remains divided. Objective: To provide an updated review. Methods: We extracted study details, derived relative risk (RR) estimates with confidence intervals (CIs) for various ETS exposure indices, and conducted meta-analyses. Results: The update increased the number of studies from 22 to 47. Using an index for each study most closely equivalent to “spouse ever smoked”, a weak but significant association was seen (random-effects RR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.07–1.23). However, the estimates were heterogeneous: higher for Asian studies than for North American or European studies, higher for studies adjusting for fewer potential confounding variables, and close to 1.0 for prospective studies, regardless of whether or not they asked detailed questions on ETS exposure. The RR for eight prospective studies asking detailed questions was 1.003, 95% CI = 0.96–1.05. Risk was increased in premenopausal women (RR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.15–1.60), but not postmenopausal women. Dose–response findings were similarly heterogeneous. No significant increase was seen for childhood or workplace exposure, but an increase was seen for total exposure (RR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.09–1.37). Conclusions: Increases mainly derived from case-control studies are prone to recall bias. Study weaknesses and possible publication bias limit interpretation. Considering also the weak association of smoking with breast cancer, and the much lower exposures from ETS than from smoking, our analyses do not clearly demonstrate that ETS exposure increases risk of breast cancer in nonsmokers. More research is needed.

show abstract

“…In spite of the biological plausibility of a positive association between cigarette smoking and breast cancer risk, epidemiological studies have shown inconsistent results. Several meta-analyses on the association of active 3 – 7 and passive 4 , 8 – 11 smoking with breast cancer risk have been published, and include different subsets of studies. In 2002, a meta-analysis of 53 epidemiological studies showed no overall association between active smoking and breast cancer risk after taking into account the effects of alcohol 3 because alcohol consumption is a risk factor for breast cancer.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 4 , 8 – 10 , 14 The most recent meta-analysis including 10 cohort studies by Yang et al . 11 reported the lack of an association between passive smoking and breast cancer among non-smokers. Thus, additional assessment of smoking and breast cancer is needed.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Husband's smoking status and breast cancer risk in Japan: From the Takayama study

Wada

Kawachi

Hori³

et al. 2015

Cancer Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effects of smoking on breast cancer remain unclear. We assessed the associations of subjects' or husbands' smoking status with breast cancer incidence in a population-based prospective study in Japan. The subjects were 15 719 women aged 35 years or older. The follow up was conducted from September 1992 to March 2008. Cancer incidence was mainly confirmed through regional population-based cancer registries. Breast cancer was defined as code C50 according to the International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, 10th Revision. Lifestyle, including smoking status, was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire. Alcohol consumption was assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire. After multivariate adjustments for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, physical activity, education, age at menarche, age at first delivery, menopausal status, number of children and history of hormone replacement therapy, active smoking was not associated with the risk of breast cancer. Compared with never smokers whose husband had never smoked, the risks of breast cancer were 1.98 (95% CI: 1.03–3.84) among never smokers whose husband was a current smoker of 21 cigarettes per day or more. The increased risk of breast cancer among women having a smoking husband was pronounced among those who did not habitually consume alcohol. These results suggest that exposure to smoke from husbands is a potential risk factor for breast cancer. The impact of alcohol consumption on the increased breast cancer risk from passive smoking needs to be addressed in further studies.

show abstract

Lack of an Association between Passive Smoking and Incidence of Female Breast Cancer in Non-Smokers: Evidence from 10 Prospective Cohort Studies

Cited by 16 publications

References 44 publications

The Health Effects of Passive Smoking: An Overview of Systematic Reviews Based on Observational Epidemiological Evidence

The Health Effects of Passive Smoking: An Overview of Systematic Reviews Based on Observational Epidemiological Evidence

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and risk of breast cancer in nonsmoking women. An updated review and meta-analysis

Husband's smoking status and breast cancer risk in Japan: From the Takayama study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About