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We already know that smoking may increase the risk of developing renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This study looks at the effect of smoking on the survival of nearly 2,000 patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC) treated with targeted therapies.
The results show that former smokers and non-smokers had comparable overall survival (23.8 vs. 23.4 months), but for people who continued to smoke during treatment with targeted therapy, overall survival was significantly shorter (16.1 months).
The study concluded that active smoking is associated with shortened overall survival in mRCC patients treated with targeted therapy. However, mRCC patients who stop smoking had a similar overall survival to those who had never smoked. Patients should be given help to stop smoking while on targeted therapy, and smoking status should be a consideration for clinical trials.
