Smoking-attributable mortality in the autonomous communities of Spain, 2017

The role of sex and gender in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer: the 6th ICAPEM Annual Symposium

The incidence and mortality of lung cancer in women are rising, with both increasing by 124% between 2003 and 2019. The main risk factor for lung cancer is tobacco use, but indoor radon gas exposure is one of the leading causes in nonsmokers. The most recent evidence demonstrates that multiple factors can make women more susceptible to harm from these risk factors or carcinogens. For this consensus statement, the Association for Lung Cancer Research in Women (ICAPEM) invited a group of lung cancer experts to perform a detailed gender-based analysis of lung cancer. Clinically, female patients have different lung cancer profiles, and most actionable driver alterations are more prevalent in women, particularly in never-smokers. Additionally, the impact of certain therapies seems to be different. In the future, it will be necessary to carry out specific studies to improve the understanding of the role of certain biomarkers and gender in the prognosis and evolution of lung cancer.

Influence of smoking history on the evolution of hospitalized in COVID-19 positive patients: results from the SEMI-COVID-19 registry

INTRODUCTION

Smoking can play a key role in SARS-CoV-2 infection and in the course of the disease. Previous studies have conflicting or inconclusive results on the prevalence of smoking and the severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

METHODS

Observational, multicenter, retrospective cohort study of 14,260 patients admitted for COVID-19 in Spanish hospitals between February and September 2020. Their clinical characteristics were recorded and the patients were classified into a smoking group (active or former smokers) or a non-smoking group (never smokers). The patients were followed up to one month after discharge. Differences between groups were analyzed. A multivariate logistic regression and Kapplan Meier curves analyzed the relationship between smoking and in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS

The median age was 68.6 (55.8-79.1) years, with 57.7% of males. Smoking patients were older (69.9 [59.6-78.0 years]), more frequently male (80.3%) and with higher Charlson index (4 [2-6]) than non-smoking patients. Smoking patients presented a worse evolution, with a higher rate of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) (10.4 vs 8.1%), higher in-hospital mortality (22.5 vs. 16.4%) and readmission at one month (5.8 vs. 4.0%) than in non-smoking patients. After multivariate analysis, smoking remained associated with these events.

CONCLUSIONS

Active or past smoking is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19. It is associated with higher ICU admissions and in-hospital mortality.