Smoking and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a case-control study in the Rhone-Alpes region of France

Objective: To study the relation between smoking and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), in the Rhone-Alpes region of France. Methods: We conducted a hospital-based case-control study that included 180 cases of NHL and 360 age-, gender-matched hospital controls. Matched univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used for analysis. Results: For the whole study population as well as for men, smoking does not elevate the risk of NHL. However, the risk of NHL is higher for women who currently smoke compared to women who have never smoked (odds ratio [OR] = 2.40, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.19-4.84). Among ever smokers, the OR of NHL is 5.04 (95% CI = 1.40-18.12) for women who have smoked for more than 30 years compared with those who have never smoked. Similarly, women who started to smoke before the age of 20 years compared with women who have never smoked are at greater risk of developing NHL (OR = 2.40, 95% CI = 0.99-5.85). In the total population (women and men), smoking may be associated with one histologic subtype, follicular NHL with an adjusted OR for the current smokers compared to subjects having never smoked of 3.20, 95% CI = 0.79-12.97. Conclusions: In spite of the small number of subjects in the subgroups, a relation is observed between smoking and NHL among women, but not men, and in the total population a relation is suggested between smoking and follicular NHL.