Black race and lower age at surgery are associated with smoking relapse in a safety-net setting after surgery for stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Smoking relapse after surgical resection for lung cancer (LC) remains a health concern. This study aims to determine various factors associated with postoperative smoking relapse in patients undergoing surgical resection for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at an urban safety net hospital.

Methods: We analyzed the demographic and clinical variables of all patients who underwent surgical resection for stage I NSCLC from 2002 to 2016 at our institution. Based on the post-operative smoking history, we segregated the cohort into two groups: relapse and abstinent. Chi-squared and analysis of variance tests were used to identify the variables that registered a significant difference between the two groups. Further, we used univariable and multivariable logistic regression to determine association between variables and smoking relapse.

Results: We analyzed data from 168 patients, excluding those with inadequate smoking history and never smokers. In total, 64 (38.1%) patients experienced smoking relapse, and 104 (61.9%) remained abstinent. The age, annual income, and race showed significant differences between the two groups. Multivariable logistic regression reflected that black patients had higher odds of relapse than white patients [odds ratio (OR) =3.26, confidence interval (CI): 1.54-6.89, P=0.002] and the chances of relapse decreased as the age increased (5-year age gap, OR =0.70, CI: 0.58-0.85, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Black race and younger age at the time of surgery are associated with smoking relapse after surgery for stage I NSCLC. Targeted smoking cessation programs catered towards these patient groups may help reduce the prevalence of post-operative smoking.