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People with viral hepatitis who smoked were three times more likely to die after being diagnosed with liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC), according to a study of Swiss patients published in Liver International.
Whereas non-smokers lived for a median of 3.2 years after diagnosis, smokers died after a median of 18 months. Smoking had a similar impact on survival in those who did not receive curative treatment in the form of liver resection (surgery), liver transplantation or ablation (use of heat to destroy tumours in the liver).
Smoking has been found to increase the risk of developing liver cancer in some, but not all studies, and to increase the risk of liver cancer in some studies of people with viral hepatitis.
Smoking is known to increase liver fibrosis in people with hepatitis C and might also directly influence HCC progression after diagnosis.