The role of tobacco in penile carcinoma

Abstract

Objective: To study the role of tobacco in squamous cell carcinoma of the penis.

Subjects and methods: The use of tobacco in the form of cigarettes, chewing tobacco and snuff was studied in a total of 503 patients and age-matched controls.

Results: By multivariate analysis, a significant association was found between smoking (P = 0.002) or chewing tobacco (P < 0.001) and the use of snuff (P = 0.004) in patients with penile carcinoma as compared with controls. A dose-response relationship was observed for both smoking and chewing.

Conclusions: The use of tobacco is a significant risk factor for penile carcinoma, and the use of more than one form of tobacco increases this risk.