Smoking as a risk factor for myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia and its relation to cytogenetic findings: A case–control study

In this case–control study, interview data on smoking habits were available for 179 de novo cases (116 with cytogenetic data) of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Smoking habits were compared with a pooled set of population controls and hospital controls (diagnosed with malignant melanoma). Each pack-year of smoking increased the risk of MDS with 1.3% (95% CI 0.1–2.6%), corresponding to an estimated excess risk of 71% (95% CI 3–180%) for 40 pack-years. Associations between smoking and the specific aberrations -5/5q-, -7/7q-, and +8 in AML and MDS were indicated but the estimates were imprecise.