Association between Smoking and Meningioma Risk: A Meta-Analysis

Objective To evaluate the potential influence of smoking to the development of meningioma by an meta-analysis.

Method The follow-up research literature related to theme was retrieved online, and the meta-analysis of the data extracted onto a standard form was conducted by Stata 12.0 software.

Results A total of 12 studies met the requirements were enrolled. The aggregated results showed there was no difference of the prevalence of smokers in meningioma patients and normal controls (OR=1.03, 95%CI:0.95~1.12, P=0.513). The risks estimates were 1.22(95%CI:1.00~1.49, P=0.046), 0.89(95%CI:0.80~1.00, P=0.046), 1.40(95%CI:1.10~1.77, P=0.006), 1.02(95%CI:0.85~1.22, P=0.85) and for men, women, ever smoking and heavy smoking, respectively. The pooled estimated risks associated with heavy smoking for meningioma were 1.20(95%CI:1.04~1.38, P=0.011). Subgroup analysis showed that no significant association between meningioma and smoking in the subgroup analysis of study type, control type and different race (P>0.05).

Conclusions Our meta-analysis suggests that there is no association between ever smoking and the risk of meningioma. However, the status varies significantly by gender with men at greater risk when heavy smoking and with women at reduced risk when ever smoking.