Association between tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption with arterial stiffness.

Few investigations have been performed between tobacco smoking, alcohol, and arterial stiffness. The purpose of our study was to investigate the association between smoking use and alcohol with arterial stiffness index (ASI) in a middle-age population. Smoking pack-years and cigarettes per day were defined as alcohol consumption in units/day. Sex associations between smoking and alcohol with ASI were estimated using multiple linear regressions. Interactions and synergistic effects were investigating. 98 039 individuals of the UK Biobank cohort were included (45 457 men and 52 582 women). ASI levels were higher in men than in women (9.91 vs. 8.71 m/s, p < .001), and showed higher relationship to smoking tobacco in multiple linear regression models in women than in men (FDR logworth 78.4 vs. 52.7). The findings revealed that ASI was higher among current smokers than never smokers in both sex and after adjustment for all covariates (in men 10.4 vs. 9.6 and in women 9.5 vs. 8.5 m/s, p < .001). Alcohol consumption per day was positively associated with higher levels of ASI in both sex, but with a less relationship (FDR logworth for men = 2.8, for women = 2.5). An interaction was observed between smoking information and alcohol in men but not in women. Synergistic effects were observed by adding smoking information on alcohol consumption models in men and women (p = .029, p < .001, respectively). Smoking and alcohol were associated with higher ASI in both sex but with a higher relationship among women. The findings suggest the importance of considering smoking and alcohol consumption cessation in cardiovascular diseases prevention.

Prediction of Disease Progression to Upfront Pembrolizumab Monotherapy in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer with High PD-L1 Expression Using Baseline CT Disease Quantification and Smoking Pack Years.

Health Canada approved pembrolizumab in the first-line setting for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with PD-L1 ≥ 50% and no EGFR/ALK aberration. The keynote 024 trial showed 55% of such patients progress with pembrolizumab monotherapy. We propose that the combination of baseline CT and clinical factors can help identify those patients who may progress. In 138 eligible patients from our institution, we retrospectively collected their baseline variables, including baseline CT findings (primary lung tumor size and metastatic site), smoking pack years, performance status, tumor pathology, and demographics. The treatment response was assessed via RECIST 1.1 using the baseline and first follow-up CT. Associations between the baseline variables and progressive disease (PD) were tested by logistic regression analyses. The results showed 46/138 patients had PD. The baseline CT "number of involved organs" by metastasis and smoking pack years were independently associated with PD (p < 0.05), and the ROC analysis showed a good performance of the model that integrated these variables in predicting PD (AUC: 0.79). This pilot study suggests that the combination of baseline CT disease and smoking PY can identify who may progress on pembrolizumab monotherapy and can potentially facilitate decision-making for the optimal first-line treatment in the high PD-L1 cohort.

Prognostic Factors of Survival After Radiotherapy for Lung Cancer-The Impact of Smoking Pack Years.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The prognostic role of smoking pack years after thoracic irradiation for lung cancer needs further clarification, since previous studies showed conflicting results. Therefore, this study investigated potential prognostic factors for survival including pack years in 170 lung cancer patients receiving local radiotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twelve factors were retrospectively evaluated for survival including age, sex, tumor site, histology, primary tumor stage, nodal stage, distant metastasis, radiation dose, upfront surgery or systemic treatment, pulmonary function, and number of pack years. RESULTS: On univariate analyses, absence of distant metastasis (p=0.049), radiation dose >56 Gy (p=0.019), and ≤40 pack years (p=0.005) were significantly associated with better survival. In the multivariate analysis, number of pack years (hazard ratio 2.18, 95% confidence interval 1.25-3.82, p=0.006) maintained significance; distant metastasis (p=0.34) and radiation dose (p=0.16) were not significant. CONCLUSION: Number of pack years was an independent predictor of survival after thoracic irradiation for lung cancer.

Glucosamine use, smoking and risk of incident chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a large prospective cohort study.

Chronic inflammation exerts pleiotropic effects in the aetiology and progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Glucosamine is widely used in many countries and may have anti-inflammatory properties. We aimed to prospectively evaluate the association of regular glucosamine use with incident COPD risk and explore whether such association could be modified by smoking in the UK Biobank cohort, which recruited more than half a million participants aged 40-69 years from across the UK between 2006 and 2010. Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for potential confounding factors were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) as well as 95 % CI for the risk of incident COPD. During a median follow-up of 8·96 years (interquartile range 8·29-9·53 years), 9016 new-onset events of COPD were documented. We found that the regular use of glucosamine was associated with a significantly lower risk of incident COPD with multivariable adjusted HR of 0·80 (95 % CI, 0·75, 0·85; P < 0·001). When subgroup analyses were performed by smoking status, the adjusted HR for the association of regular glucosamine use with incident COPD were 0·84 (0·73, 0·96), 0·84 (0·77, 0·92) and 0·71 (0·62, 0·80) among never smokers, former smokers and current smokers, respectively. No significant interaction was observed between glucosamine use and smoking status (Pfor interaction = 0·078). Incident COPD could be reduced by 14 % to 84 % through a combination of regular glucosamine use and smoking cessation.

Impact of cisplatin dose and smoking pack-years in human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with chemoradiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the impact of cisplatin cumulative dose (CDDP-D) and smoking pack-years (PYs) on cause-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) in human papillomavirus-positive (HPV+) oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPSCC) using the eighth edition tumour-node-metastasis (TNM) staging classification (TNM8). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed patients with HPV+ OPSCC treated with high-dose CDDP and intensity-modulated radiotherapy between 2005 and 2015 at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. CSS and OS were compared according to CDDP-D <200/=200/>200 mg/m2 stratified by TNM8. RESULTS: A total of 482 consecutive patients were evaluated (stage I/II/III: N = 189/174/119; CDDP-D <200/=200/>200 mg/m2: N = 112/220/150). Median follow-up duration was 5.1 years (range: 0.6-12.8). Five-year CSS and OS differed by stages I/II/III: 96%/85%/88% (p=0.005) and 93%/84%/78% (p = 0.001), respectively. Five-year CSS by CDDP-D <200/=200/>200 mg/m2 was similar in stage I (98%/95%/95%, p = 0.74) and stage II (88%/84%/84%, p = 0.86) but different in stage III (76%/98%/84%, p = 0.02). Five-year OS by CDDP-D <200/=200/>200 mg/m2 did not differ significantly among stages. In the multivariable analysis, CDDP-D <200 mg/m2 did not influence CSS in the whole cohort versus = 200/>200 mg/m2 (p=0.53/0.79, respectively) but was associated with reduced CSS in stage III subgroup versus =200 mg/m2 (=200 mg/m2 versus < 200 mg/m2 hazard ratio [HR] = 0.08; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01-0.67; p = 0.02). Higher smoking PYs had no effect on CSS (p = 0.34) but reduced OS in the whole cohort (HR = 1.14 [95% CI: 1.02-1.27], p=0.01). CONCLUSION: CDDP-D correlated with neither survival nor disease-specific outcomes in this large and homogeneous HPV+ cohort, although reduced CSS was observed in stageIII HPV+ OPSCC receiving CDDP-D <200 mg/m2. Smoking PYs were negatively associated with OS but not with CSS.

Hidradenitis suppurativa: a retrospective study of 846 Dutch patients to identify factors associated with disease severity.

BACKGROUND: Few comprehensive studies exist on the epidemiology of hidradenitis suppurativa, a very distressing skin disease. OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify disease-related factors associated with severity, sex, and family history. METHODS: Ordinal logistic regression was used in 846 consecutive Dutch patients with hidradenitis suppurativa to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for severity according to Hurley. Sex and family history were compared using Student t test and χ(2) test. RESULTS: In total, 45.5% of the patients had Hurley I, 41.5% had Hurley II, and 13.0% had Hurley III. Severity was associated with male sex (OR 2.11; P < .001), disease duration (OR 1.03; P < .001), body mass index (OR 1.03; P = .01), smoking pack-years (OR 1.02; P = .001), and axillary (OR 2.24; P < .001), perianal (OR 1.92; P < .001), and mammary lesions (OR 1.48; P = .03). Women had earlier onset, more inguinal and mammary lesions, and more frequent family history for hidradenitis suppurativa. Men more commonly had gluteal, perianal, and atypical lesions, and a history of severe acne. Patients with a family history had earlier onset, longer disease duration, a history of severe acne, more extensive disease, and were more often smokers. LIMITATIONS: Some parameters were patient-reported. CONCLUSION: The severity risk factors identified in this study could help physicians to select patients who need close monitoring and who would benefit from early, aggressive therapy.