American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 129, No. 4: 703-711
Copyright © 1989 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
research-article |
TAR CONTENT OF CIGARETTES IN RELATION TO LUNG CANCER
1Slone Epidemiolo Unit School of Public Health, Boston University School of Medicine, Brookline, MA
2Department of Medicine Section of General Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
3Epidemiology and Preventive Medical Services, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute New York, NY
Reprint requests to Dr. David W. Kaufman, Slone Epidemiology Unit, School of Public Health, Boston University School of Medicine, 1371 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02146
Although it is generally considered estabtiehed that the risk of lung cancer is directly related to the tar content of cigarettes, an examination of the results of previous studies does not yield conclusive evidence in favor of the hypothesis. The authors evaluated this issue in a study of 881 cases of lung cancer and 2, 570 hospital controls who wore 40 to 69 years of age; data were collected by interview in hospitals in the United States and Canada from November 1981 to June 1986. For each year of smoking, cigarette brands were classified according to their tar content as published in regular Federal Trade Commission reports (from 1967 to 1985) or the Reader's Digest (from 1957 to 1966). Tar values for years for which there was no published information were estimated by interpolation. Smokers were divided, according to the tar content of their cigarette brands averaged over a specified period, into low (<22 mg/cigarette), medium (22–28 mg/cigarette), and high (
29 mg/cigarette) tar smokers. When the average tar content was based on cigarettes smoked at least 10 years previously, the relative risk estimates for medium and high tar smokers compared with law tar smokers were 3.0 and 4.0 after control for potentially confounding factors, including the number of cigarettes smoked per day. The trend was significant (p = 0.002). The tendency for the risk of lung cancer to Increase with increasing tar content was consistent among men and women. The results provide further support for the hypothesis that the tar content of cigarettes is directly related to lung cancer risk. However, the data were limIted in that there were very few subjects whose lifetime tar exposure averaged less than 10 mg/cigarette.
lung neoplasms; smoking; tars
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  R. Mehra, B. A. Moore, K. Crothers, J. Tetrault, and D. A. Fiellin The association between marijuana smoking and lung cancer: a systematic review. Arch Intern Med, July 10, 2006; 166(13): 1359 - 1367. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. M Papamichael, K. A Aznaouridis, K. S Stamatelopoulos, E. N Karatzis, A. D Protogerou, T. G Papaioannou, J. P Lekakis, and M. E Mavrikakis Endothelial dysfunction and type of cigarette smoked: the impact of 'light' versus regular cigarette smoking Vascular Medicine, May 1, 2004; 9(2): 103 - 105. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. E Harris, M. J Thun, A. M Mondul, and E. E Calle Cigarette tar yields in relation to mortality from lung cancer in the cancer prevention study II prospective cohort, 1982-8 BMJ, January 10, 2004; 328(7431): 72. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. R. Brooks, J. R. Palmer, B. L. Strom, and L. Rosenberg Menthol Cigarettes and Risk of Lung Cancer Am. J. Epidemiol., October 1, 2003; 158(7): 609 - 616. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. G. Shields Tobacco Smoking, Harm Reduction, and Biomarkers J Natl Cancer Inst, October 2, 2002; 94(19): 1435 - 1444. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W. H. Sauer, J. A. Berlin, B. L. Strom, C. Miles, J. L. Carson, and S. E. Kimmel Cigarette Yield and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Smokers Arch Intern Med, February 11, 2002; 162(3): 300 - 306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. J Thun and D. M Burns Health impact of ""reduced yield"" cigarettes: a critical assessment of the epidemiological evidence Tob. Control, December 1, 2001; 10(90001): i4 - 11. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J.-L. Tang, J. K Morris, N. J Wald, D. Hole, M. Shipley, and H. Tunstall-Pedoe Mortality in relation to tar yield of cigarettes: a prospective study of four cohorts BMJ, December 9, 1995; 311(7019): 1530 - 1533. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S Parish, R Collins, R Peto, L Youngman, J Barton, K Jayne, R Clarke, P Appleby, V Lyon, S Cederholm-Williams, et al. Cigarette smoking, tar yields, and non-fatal myocardial infarction: 14000 cases and 32000 controls in the United Kingdom BMJ, August 19, 1995; 311(7003): 471 - 477. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|