A new study has reported that smoking is associated with a younger age at breast cancer diagnosis. The study was designed to evaluate the association between cigarette smoking and risk of breast cancer, including age and tumor characteristics at diagnosis. Smoking has been reported to be associated with the risk of some cancers, as well as their response to treatment and longer-term outcomes after treatment. The study included 6,000 breast cancer patients with a known smoking history with early stage breast cancer who were initially diagnosed at a comprehensive cancer center during the period 1970 to 2006. A total of 2,683 (45%) of the study group were classified as ever having any tobacco use, whereas 3,317 (55%) had never used tobacco.

The median age at diagnosis for the overall study group was 55 years; the median was 56 years for nonsmokers; 55 years for those with any smoking history; and 52 years for current smokers. The likelihood of being younger than 55 at diagnosis was 20% higher among Caucasians with any smoking history compared to nonsmokers. This finding did not hold for African-American patients, although this result was not statistically significant. Smoking was not related to cancer stage, hormone receptor status or Her-2/neu status. Smokers were less likely to use lumpectomy than non-smokers, although the reasons for this were unclear. The authors comment that further studies are needed to clarify potential reasons for any racial differences and lower use of breast conservation surgery among smokers.