Background:
The 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study shows that approximately 25% of deaths and 20% of DALYs due to cancer was as a result of active or passive exposure to smoking. Tobacco smoking is also well-known risk factor for bladder and kidney cancer, and findings from some epidemiological studies suggest a positive association between tobacco smoking and prostate cancer risk.

Objective:
To review the scientific evidence on the role and effectiveness of tobacco cessation in urinary cancer prevention, screening and treatment.

Material and Methods:
A narrative review of papers published since 2000 in peer-review scientific journals and monographs or research reports of highly respected research institutes or international health organizations such as the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, USA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. The search was done using PubMed, Medline, Web of Science and other Internet-available scientific or medical platforms.

Results:
Both long-term prospective and case-control epidemiological studies prove that cessation of smoking is beneficial at every stage of life. There is also enough evidence, including clinical trials that smoking cessation effectively prevents the risk of lung, head or neck cancers and improves effectiveness of the cancer treatment. However, the scientific knowledge on the impact of smoking cessation on prevention, screening and treatment of urinary cancers is still limited and conclusions are not so clear as for lung, oral or laryngeal cancer. There are only few studies that analyze specific methods of smoking cessation, such as brief intervention based on 5As, in the context of cancer prevention, treatment and recurrence, including bladder cancer. This paper refers to major clinical and epidemiological studies where these associations and procedures are analyzed.

Conclusions:
Urologists may play an essential role in motivating and helping their patients cease smoking. It could decrease incidence of urinary cancers and improve the cancer survival rates. Unfortunately, most urologists still do not incorporate smoking cessation into their routine medical practice when diagnosing and treating at-risk urinary cancer patients. It mainly results from lack of clear scientific evidence on the effectiveness of smoking cessation in prevention and treatment of urinary cancers, lack of knowledge of urologists on treatment of tobacco dependence and lack of standardized tobacco prevention and cessation methods in clinical guidelines for urologists and urological oncologists.