Smoking and bone marrow failure

[lacanada1]

Does anyone know if there has been research into a link between cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke exposure and bone marrow failure diseases?

[Dick S]

Not that I have heard.

[Sally C]

Lacanada1,
Your timing of this question is great. I receive e-mails from The MDS Beacon. The one I got today addressed this issue. I copied and pasted for you...

The MDS Beacon
January 30, 2012 11:04 am
Site Highlight - For all MDS Beacon news articles related to the ASH 2011 annual meeting, see the Beacon's ASH 2011 meeting tag page (link).
Tobacco Use Negatively Impacts Prognosis Of Lower-Risk MDS Patients (ASH 2011) by Linda Vuong...
"Using tobacco products has a negative impact on the prognosis of patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, according to a recent U. S. study. The study investigators did not observe this impact in higher-risk patients.
Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that tobacco use may influence the biology of the disease and suggested that lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients may improve their outcomes if they discontinue any tobacco use.
The study results were presented during a poster session at the 2011 American Society of Hematology meeting last month.
Previous studies have linked tobacco use to the development of MDS. Other studies have shown that smoking decreases survival in certain MDS patients (see related Beacon news).
In the current study, researchers retrospectively compared the outcomes of MDS patients treated at the Moffitt Cancer Center who had a history of tobacco use (487 patients) to patients who had never used tobacco products (256 patients).
Tobacco use included cigarettes, cigars, pipes, snuff, and chew tobacco.
The researchers found that there were no statistically significant differences in age, type of MDS, presence of chromosomal abnormalities, red blood cell transfusion dependence, blood ferritin levels, or Vidaza (azacitidine) or Dacogen (decitabine) use between the tobacco users and the patients with no history of tobacco use.
However, the researchers found that among lower-risk MDS patients, the share of patients who had a history of tobacco use were significantly more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities that increased their risk of progressing to acute myeloid leukemia (9 percent of patients) than lower-risk MDS patients who had never used tobacco (2 percent).
Likewise, a higher percentage of lower-risk MDS patients who had a history of tobacco use progressed to acute myeloid leukemia (18 percent) than lower-risk MDS patients who did not have a history of tobacco use (10 percent).
Tobacco usage did not affect the rate of disease progression for patients with higher-risk MDS.
After a median follow-up time of 55 months, the median overall survival for lower-risk MDS patients who had never used tobacco was significantly longer (69 months) than for lower-risk MDS patients who had used tobacco (48 months).
When the researchers compared data from lower-risk MDS patients who had formerly used tobacco to those of current tobacco users, they found that those who had given up tobacco had a median overall survival of 50 months, compared to 38 months for those still using tobacco.
Overall survival was similar among higher-risk MDS patients who had never used tobacco (22 months) and those who were tobacco users (18 months).
For more information, please see abstract 3790 at the ASH 2011 meeting website."

Best wishes,
Sally

[riccd2001]

Very interesting, thanks for the summary post. It seems that there is nothing specific for "second-hand smoke exposure" that is basically unavoidable over a lifetime.