Smoking among women has drawn increasing attention because of the increase (or less pronounced decrease) in its prevalence when compared with that observed for men, as well as because of the specific effects that smoking has on women's health. For the 2010 "World No Tobacco Day", the World Health Organization chose the theme "Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women", with the aim of encouraging policies to combat marketing strategies employed by the tobacco industry and to curb the epidemic of smoking among women. In this article, we discuss the characteristics of smoking among women, addressing factors such as smoking prevalence, nicotine dependence, the role of the tobacco industry, health risks, approaches to smoking cessation, treatment strategies, and prevention measures.

Keywords: Smoking; Women's health; Tobacco industry.

Pulmonary artery sarcomas are rare, difficult-to-diagnose tumors that frequently mimic chronic pulmonary thromboembolism. We report the cases of two female patients with clinical signs of dyspnea and lung masses associated with pulmonary artery filling defects on chest CT angiography. We performed 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, which revealed increased radiotracer uptake in those lesions. Pulmonary artery sarcoma was subsequently confirmed by anatomopathological examination. We emphasize the importance of this type of tomography as a noninvasive method for the diagnosis of these tumors.

Keywords: Positron-emission tomography; Pulmonary artery; Pulmonary embolism; Leiomyosarcoma; Histiocytoma, malignant fibrous.

Objective: Water-pipe tobacco smoking is becoming increasingly more common among young people. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of the use of water pipes and other forms of tobacco use, including cigarette smoking, among medical students, as well as to examine the attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge of those students regarding this issue. Methods: We administered a questionnaire to students enrolled in the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, in São Paulo, Brazil. The respondents were evaluated in their third and sixth years of medical school, between 2008 and 2013. Comparisons were drawn between the two years. Results: We evaluated 586 completed questionnaires. Overall, the prevalence of current cigarette smokers was low, with a decline among males (9.78% vs. 5.26%) and an increase among females (1.43% vs. 2.65%) in the 3rd and 6th year, respectively. All respondents believed that health professionals should advise patients to quit smoking. However, few of the medical students who smoked received physician advice to quit. Experimentation with other forms of tobacco use was more common among males (p<0.0001). Despite their knowledge of its harmful effects, students experimented with water-pipe tobacco smoking in high proportions (47.32% and 46.75% of the third- and sixth-year students, respectively). Conclusions: The prevalence of experimentation with water-pipe tobacco smoking and other forms of tobacco use is high among aspiring physicians. Our findings highlight the need for better preventive education programs at medical schools, not only to protect the health of aspiring physicians but also to help them meet the challenge posed by this new epidemic.

Keywords: Tobacco products; Smoking/prevention & control; Education, medical, undergraduate; Health knowledge, attitudes, practice.