Cigarette Smoking and the Risk of Colorectal Adenoma in Men

Abstract

We evaluated the effect of smoking on the risk of developing colorectal adenoma in men. The data were obtained in a case-control study of 103 men with colorectal biopsy-proven adenoma (cases) and 108 men with normal colonoscopy findings (controls). As compared with men who had never smoked, the estimated relative risk of adenoma increased with the pack-year smoking number, the average number of cigarettes per day, and the total years smoked. The estimated overall relative risk was 2.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 4.3). Adjustment for age did not alter these results. The data suggest that smokers may have a higher risk of developing colorectal adenoma than non-smokers. If these results are confirmed, they might be of direct importance for public health, since adenomas are precursors of colorectal cancer.

Key Words:

• Case-control study
• colorectal adenoma
• smoking