Smoking is a major risk factor for bladder cancer. A recent study evaluated over 13,000 patients and found that patients who are actively smoking at the time of surgery had higher mortality rates from all causes after surgery, higher rates of mortality from bladder cancer, and higher risk of bladder cancer recurrence in the future. Additionally, actively smoking patients had decreased complete response rates to chemotherapy provided before surgery. All of these factors were better in patients that had never smoked AND patients that had previously quit smoking. These data highlight the importance of smoking cessation as an integral part of addressing bladder cancer.
J Urol. 2020 Oct;204(4):649-660. doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000000813. Epub 2020 Feb 27. PMID: 32105187.
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