Tobacco use significantly associated with bladder cancer incidence and mortality

An international team of researchers led by CUHK found a significant association between tobacco use and bladder cancer incidence and mortality globally.

“Tobacco contains a rich source of harmful carcinogenic compounds, which may accumulate in the urine and damage the lining of the bladder, increasing the risk of cancer. An earlier international study has already suggested smoking as the most important risk factor for bladder cancer, with an attribute risk of about 50 percent. Our study suggests that it might also affect disease progress,” said Professor Martin Wong of The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care at CUHK. [Eur Urol 2018;74:784-795]

Analyses of data from the GLOBOCAN database, Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, and the WHO mortality database yielded positive correlations between the rate of tobacco use and the age-standardized rates of bladder cancer incidence (r=0.20) and mortality (r=0.38) in men and between the rate of tobacco use and the age-standardized rates of bladder cancer incidence (r=0.67) and mortality (r=0.22) in women. [Eur Urol 2020;S0302-2838(20)30697-7]

Additional findings included 10-year temporal trends of bladder cancer, with Europe experiencing an increasing incidence but decreasing mortality and Asia seeing a reverse trend of decreasing incidence but increasing male mortality.