Correlation between cigarette smoking and urine cotinine level in gastric cancer patients

ABSTRACT

Various substances in cigarette smoke including nicotine have been shown to promote/induce cancer cell proliferation. Since cotinine has a longer half life and stability in the blood, it has become the preferred biomarker for cigarette smoking exposure. Seventy-three gastric cancer patients were included in this study. The tumor tissues were stained with H and E for pathological evaluation. The cotinine levels were measured in urine using a competitive ELISA. Tumors were 90% adenocarcinoma with 63% intestinal and 37% diffuse subtypes. Tumors were poorly [45.2%] or moderately differentiated [41.1%] and localized mainly [77%] in the upper part of stomach. The levels of cotinine were significantly different between smoker [283.83 +/- 178.10 ng/mL] and non-smoker [39.28 +/- 113.34 ng/mL] groups [p < 0.001]. However, there is no-significant correlation between tumor characteristics and cotinine level in smoker patients. Cotinine level correlates with smoking in gastric patients, however, correlation with the tumor features has not been observed