More Bad News for Smokers

Smoking may increase risk of recurrence in patients with HPV-linked oral cancers.
The Los Angeles Times (2/15, Maugh) "Booster Shots" blog reported that, according to findings appearing in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, "smokers who have an HPV-linked [oral] tumor are six times as likely to have a recurrence as those who have never smoked." In a study of "124 patients with advanced cancer of the tonsils or the base of the tongue," researchers found that "about two-thirds of the 102 patients with HPV-linked tumors were current or former tobacco users."
Pipes, cigars may increase risk for abnormal lung function. The New York Times (2/16, D6, Rabin) reports in Vital Signs that, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, "pipe and cigar smokers had more than double the risk for abnormal lung function that contributes to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], a leading cause of death -- even if they abstained from cigarettes." Meanwhile, "those who also smoked cigarettes were at more than triple the risk."
HealthDay (2/15, Edelson) reported, "The study results show clearly that cigar and pipe smokers are exposed to toxins and run the risk of developing" COPD. The researchers suggested that "physicians...consider pipe and cigar smoking a risk factor for [COPD] and counsel their patients to quit."