SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2018
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke and Risk of Cancer in Never Smokers: A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiologic Studies.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Passive smoking and risk of head and neck cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of cancer prevention : the official journal of the European Cancer Prevention Organisation (ECP) · 2025Pooled it
- Predictive performance of risk prediction models for lung cancer incidence in Western and Asian countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Risk factors for breast cancer: an umbrella review of observational cohort studies and causal relationship analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Association Between Incense Burning and the Risk of Lung Cancer in Asian Population: Meta-Analysis of Nine Case-Control Studies.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Pooled it
- Occupational Exposure to Benzene and Risk of Breast Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.La Medicina del lavoro · 2024Pooled it
- Association between second-hand smoke exposure and lung cancer risk in never-smokers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2024Pooled it
- Exposure to second-hand smoke and breast cancer risk in non-smoking women: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Association of cigarette smoking habits with the risk of prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- The relationship between tobacco and breast cancer incidence: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Global burden of lung cancer attributable to secondhand smoke (1990-2021) and predictive trends to 2035.Medicine · 2026Article
- Vape-Associated lncRNA Transcript 1 (VALT1) Amplifies the Tumorigenic Effects of e-Cigarette Vapor in Lung Epithelial Cells.Non-coding RNA · 2026Article
- Review
- European Code Against Cancer, 5th edition - tobacco and nicotine containing products, second-hand smoke, alcohol and cancer.Molecular oncology · 2026Review
- Lung cancer in never-smoking females: epidemiology, risk factors and screening.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Secondhand smoke and breast health awareness among Vietnamese American families in California: A mixed-methods study.Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2026Article
- Is passive smoking associated with acute stress response? An observational real-world study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Childhood exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal never smokers: the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) study.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2025Article
- Causes of Childhood Cancer: A Review of Literature (2014-2021): Part 2-Pregnancy and Birth-Related Factors.Cancers · 2025Review
- Secondhand smoke is associated with abdominal obesity and high obesity index in a large Taiwanese population study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Inflammatory diseases and risk of lung cancer among individuals who have never smoked.Nature communications · 2025Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This is first meta-analysis to evaluate cancer risk associated with secondhand smoking across all cancers. A literature search was conducted for articles published before June 2014 on Pubmed, SCOPUS, Cochrane library, and CINAHL, and 40 articles on secondhand smoke and the prevalence of cancer among never smokers were selected for final analysis as per the inclusion criteria. Of the 40 articles, 27 were case-control studies and 13 were prospective cohort studies. With respect to overall cancer risk, odds ratio (OR) involving never smokers with significant exposure to secondhand smoke compared to never smokers without such exposure was 1.163 (95%CI 1.058⁻1.279). Subgroup meta-analyses by study design showed significant positive associations for both case-control studies and prospective cohort studies (OR 1.165, 95%CI 1.029⁻1.320; and OR 1.160, 95%CI 1.002⁻1.343, respectively). The association was stronger in the case of females (OR 1.253, 95%CI 1.142⁻1.374), lung cancer (OR 1.245, 95%CI 1.026⁻1.511), and breast cancer (OR 1.235, 95%CI 1.102⁻1.385). Secondhand smoking may increase the overall risk of cancer for never smokers, particularly lung and breast cancer, and especially in women. Strict implementation of smoking cessation programs should be encouraged, not only to reduce active smoking but also to limit exposure to secondhand smoke.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.