Smoking cessation

Avoid

2 studies · 1 recommendation

Last updated: February 25, 2026

Avoid2 studies

Quitting smoking reduces gastric cancer risk to near-baseline within ten years

Across 2 studies encompassing over 36,000 participants, smoking consistently elevates gastric cancer risk. A large meta-analysis of 23 studies (10,290 cases, 26,145 controls) found current smokers face a 25% increased risk (OR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.11–1.40), with dose-response effects: more than 20 cigarettes daily raises risk by 32% (OR 1.32) and smoking beyond 40 years by 33% (OR 1.33). A case-control study of 312 individuals confirmed smokers carry nearly double the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer (OR 1.89, 95% CI: 1.41–3.11). Crucially, risk declines significantly after cessation (P for trend <0.01), with former smokers approaching never-smoker risk levels after 10 years of abstinence.

Evidence

Cigarette smoking and gastric cancer in the stomach cancer pooling (StoP) project

Authors: Agudo, Boccia, Bonequi, Buiatti, Castaño-Vinyals, De Feo, Deandrea, Derakhshan, DerSimonian, Dyke, Freedman, González, Harris, Higgins, Ioannidis, Kamangar, Kim, Kneller, Koizumi, La Torre, La Vecchia, Ladeiras-Lopes, Lagiou, Lee, Lindblad, Lucenteforte, Lunet, Mao, Matsuo, Mirvish, Mu, Nomura, Pakseresht, Peleteiro, Pelucchi, Poplawski, Pourfarzi, Rota, Royston, Santibañez, Setiawan, Setiawan, Smith-Warner, Steevens, Tayler, Tramacere, Trédaniel, Ye, Zaridze, Zendehdel, Zhang

Published: January 1, 2018

Meta-analysis of 23 epidemiological studies including 10,290 cases and 26,145 controls found current smokers had OR 1.25 (95% CI: 1.11–1.40) compared to never smokers. Risk showed dose-response: smoking >20 cigarettes/day yielded OR 1.32 (95% CI: 1.10–1.58), and >40 years duration yielded OR 1.33 (95% CI: 1.14–1.54). Risk decreased with time since cessation (P for trend <0.01) and became similar to never smokers 10 years after stopping. Former smokers had OR 1.12 (95% CI: 0.99–1.27). Risks were somewhat higher for cardia than noncardia gastric cancer.

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The polymorphism -251 A/T in the promoter region of the interleukin 8 gene and the risk of gastric cancer: case-control study

Authors: Felipe, Aledson Vitor

Published: April 28, 2010

In this case-control study of 312 individuals (104 gastric cancer cases, 208 controls), cigarette smoking was significantly more prevalent in the cancer group (p=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that smokers and former smokers had nearly twice the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer compared to non-smokers (OR: 1.89, 95% CI 1.41-3.11, p=0.01), independent of IL-8 genotype and dietary factors.

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