Study links smoking to more aggressive tumors

If you need another reason to quit smoking, this may be it: Smoking doesn’t just damage healthy cells — it may also create conditions inside the body that help tumors grow.

A team of researchers at the Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of Mississippi Medical Center set out to better understand how smoking affects the environment surrounding prostate tumors. The team included instructors Dr. Amod Sharma and Dr. Sarabjeet Kour Sudan; assistant professor Dr. Pratim Guha Niyogi; Dr. Ajay Singh, associate director of basic and translational research; and Dr. Seema Singh, associate director of education and training.

While smoking is already known to increase the risk of prostate cancer diagnosis, recurrence and death, less is understood about how it influences the body’s immune response to cancer. Their study, published in the February issue of The Prostate, takes a closer look at how smoking reshapes the tumor’s immune landscape — and what that could mean for patient outcomes.

The researchers found that current smokers had significantly higher levels of certain immune cells — including tumor-associated macrophages and regulatory T cells — inside their tumors compared to nonsmokers. These cells can suppress the body’s natural immune defenses, suggesting that smoking may create a more tumor-friendly, immunosuppressive environment that allows cancer to grow and spread more aggressively.

The findings also point to a hopeful takeaway: Because smoking is a modifiable risk factor, quitting may help reduce or even reverse some of these harmful immune changes.

“Smoking affects every organ in the body,” said Dr. Jonathan Hontzas, director of The ACT Center for Tobacco Treatment, Education and Research, and lung screening services at UMMC. “We often think about smoking in terms of lung disease, but it also affects how the body responds to cancer. Tobacco can weaken the immune system and create conditions that allow tumors to grow and spread more easily. The good news is that it’s never too late to quit — and stopping smoking can make a meaningful difference in treatment outcomes and long-term health.”

The ACT Center offers support in helping Mississippians kick the tobacco habit including counseling and medications.

To request a free ACT Center appointment, email actcenter@umc.edu.

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