Impact of Tobacco Cessation on the Development of Bladder Cancer

Vikram Narayan, MD, spoke with CancerNetwork® at the Society of Urologic Oncology 21st Annual Meeting regarding tobacco cessation and how patients are often unaware of its role in helping to prevent bladder cancer recurrence.

Transcription:

I think this is a very promising time. The only other thing that I always mention to all of my patients that I think is really important is tobacco cessation and the fact that many people don’t realize that smoking, including secondhand smoke, is often the single leading cause of bladder cancer. I think efforts to try and quit smoking and get support to do so are going to be really important. It’s great that we have a lot of emerging treatment options but working on a plan and getting support to quit smoking is among the most important things that an individual can do to prevent bladder cancer recurrence. There are a lot of options available, both through a patient’s primary care physician as well as their urologist, if that’s something they are interested in pursuing.