Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in hookah smokers, cigarette smokers and non-smokers.
OBJECTIVE
To find CEA levels in smokers of different categories (hookah smokers, cigarette smokers smoking different brands of cigarettes and different number of cigarettes per day) and to correlate CEA levels with type and rate of smoking.


METHODS
A total of 122 cigarette smokers (115 men and 7 women) and 14 hookah smokers (all men) with age ranging from 16-80 years were studied. CEA levels were also measured in 36 non-smokers who served as controls. Enhanced chemilumiscent immunometeric technique was applied to measure CEA levels in our subjects.


RESULTS
The mean CEA levels of cigarette smokers were compared with the mean CEA levels observed in hookah smokers (7.16 +/- 10.4 ng/ml) and non-smokers (2.15 +/- 0.68 ng/ml). The mean value of CEA level observed in cigarette smokers, 9.19 +/- 14.9 ng/ml (n=122) was significantly higher than the levels in non-smokers and hookah smokers (p < 0.0067). It was also observed that CEA levels increased with the number of cigarettes smoked per day. The highest levels were observed in smokers who smoke more than 31 cigarettes per day. The smokers that use relatively cheaper brands of cigarettes had higher levels of CEA compared to those who use high quality brands.


CONCLUSIONS
It was concluded that the brands of cigarettes (which were ranked on the basis of price) and the rate of smoking both play an important role in raising the CEA levels. Further the common belief that hookah also called narghile or shisha is a relatively safe mode of smoking is not completely correct; a significant proportion of hookah smokers have high levels of CEA although mean levels of hookah smokers were low compared to cigarette smokers.
Sajid
Khan Mohammad
KM
Multan Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy1, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
Parveen
Riffat
R
Durr-e-Sabih
Chaouachi
Kamal
K
Naeem
Ayisha
A
Mahmood
Rubaida
R
Shamim
Rahat
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking; D014026:Nicotiana; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution