Cigarette Smoking and Pancreatic Cancer Risk: A Revisit with an Assessment of the Nicotine Dependence Phenotype

Background: Cigarette smoking is a well-established risk factor of pancreatic cancer (PC). Although anassociation between nicotine dependence phenotype, namely time to first cigarette (TTFC) after waking, andthe risk of several smoking-related cancers has been reported, an association between TTFC and PC risk hasnot been reported. We assessed the impact of smoking behavior, particularly TTFC, on PC risk in a Japanesepopulation. Materials and
Methods: We conducted a case-control study using 341 PC and 1,705 non-cancerpatients who visited Aichi Cancer Center in Nagoya, Japan. Exposure to risk factors, including smoking behavior,was assessed from the results of a self-administered questionnaire. The impact of smoking on PC risk was assessedwith multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Results: Cigarettes per day (CPD) and/or smoking duration were significantlyassociated with PC risk, consistent with previous studies. For TTFC and PC risk, we found only a suggestiveassociation: compared with a TTFC of more than 60 minutes, ORs were 1.15 (95%CI, 0.65- 2.04) for a TTFC of30-60 minutes and 1.35 (95%CI, 0.85-2.15) for that of 0-30 minutes (p trend=0.139). After adjustment for CPDor smoking duration, no association was observed between TTFC and PC.
Conclusions: In this study, we foundno statistically significant association between TTFC and PC risk. Further studies concerning TTFC and PCrisk are warranted.