Cigarette Smoking and Survival of Patients with Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most frequent cancer in fair-skinned populations and represents a growing public health concern due to its impact in terms of morbidity and treatment costs. While some meta-analyses have investigated cigarette smoking as a risk factor for NMSC, less...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancers Vol. 17; no. 22; p. 3670
Main Authors: Andreon, Chiara, Gaeta, Aurora, Carretti, Maddalena, Graziani, Alice, Tosti, Giulio, Doccioli, Chiara, Saponara, Maristella, Gorini, Giuseppe, Suppa, Mariano, Di Maggio, Elisa, Gandini, Sara, Caini, Saverio
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15.11.2025
Subjects:
Cancer therapies
Cigarette smoking
Cigarettes
Drug addiction
Literature reviews
Medical diagnosis
Medical prognosis
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Melanoma
Meta-analysis
Morbidity
Mortality
Patient outcomes
Patients
Prognosis
Public health
Radiation
Risk factors
Skin cancer
Smoking
Smoking cessation programs
Squamous cell carcinoma
Survival
Survival analysis
Systematic review
Italy
cigarette smoking
squamous cell cancer
basal cell cancer
survival
meta-analysis
literature review
non-melanoma skin cancer
ISSN:2072-6694, 2072-6694
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Summary:Background: Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most frequent cancer in fair-skinned populations and represents a growing public health concern due to its impact in terms of morbidity and treatment costs. While some meta-analyses have investigated cigarette smoking as a risk factor for NMSC, less is known about its prognostic implications in patients with NMSC. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to fill this gap by assessing the association between smoking habits and survival in patients with NMSC. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed and EMBASE up to 25 February 2025, to identify prospective studies of patients with histologically confirmed NMSC that evaluated the association between smoking habits and survival. Study-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using random effects meta-analysis models. Results: A total of five studies published between 2015 and 2022 were included. The meta-analysis revealed that being a current or ever smoker at diagnosis was associated with a worse overall survival (summary HR 2.42, 95% CI 1.91–3.06). A similar result was observed when smoking exposure was assessed in terms of pack-years or number of cigarettes per day (summary HR 2.44, 95% CI 2.02–2.93). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that cigarette smoking is a negative prognostic factor in these patients, despite the generally excellent prognosis of NMSC. It is reasonable to assume that this unfavourable effect is largely due to the increased risk of developing other life-threatening conditions, in which smoking plays a causal role. These results underscore the clinical relevance of systematically integrating smoking cessation counselling into the routine management of patients with NMSC.
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ISSN:2072-6694
2072-6694
DOI:10.3390/cancers17223670