Risk for Lung Cancer Greater Among Breast Cancer Patients Who Smoke [06/11/2001; Doctor's Guide] A new study shows an association between cigarette smoking and the development of pulmonary metastatic disease among women with breast cancer and provides a plausible explanation for the higher rate of fatal breast cancer among smokers, according to researchers. Pulmonary metastatic disease indicates the spread of cancer to the lungs after originating in another site, such as the breast. The study was reported in the June issue of Chest, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). Investigators at the University of California at Davis Medical Center reviewed the records of 87 patients with unilateral, invasive breast cancer and pulmonary metastatic disease and matched them against 174 control subjects who did not have lung metastases. Patients in the control group were matched to study-group patients according to age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, size of the primary tumor and number of positive lymph nodes, if applicable. Since the lung is a common site of metastasis from breast cancer, and smoking is a cause of numerous changes in the lung that could affect the likelihood of metastatic spread to this organ, researchers hypothesized that smoking might alter the course of breast cancer by increasing the frequency with which breast cancer metastasizes to the lung. The number of patients with evidence of metastatic involvement of other organs was higher among those in the study group as opposed to those in the control group (72.4 percent versus 31 percent). Thirty-eight percent of the study patients versus 29 percent of those in the control group were classified as ever-smokers; 24.1 percent of the study patients were actively smoking at the time of breast cancer diagnosis versus 15.3 percent of those in the control group. The unadjusted odds ratio for active cigarette smoking was 1.76 for women with pulmonary metastatic disease compared to women without pulmonary metastatic disease. J Am Chem Soc, 1997 Euro J of Cancer, 7/02 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.