Smoking and lung cancer in women: findings in a prospective study.

Lung cancer rates in relation to smoking habits were studied in a cohort of 619,225 women traced over a 4-yr period (1982 to 1986). A total of 1,006 lung cancer deaths was recorded. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for women smokers was 12.7 for current smokers and 4.8 for exsmokers. For those women without a history of chronic diseases, the SMR rose to 17.6 for current smokers. The SMRs rose with the number of cigarettes smoked per day to 22.0 for women who smoked 31 or more per day. SMRs also increased with depth of inhalation; this increase was independent of the number smoked per day. SMRs also increased by duration of smoking and decreased with cessation of smoking. Mortality ratios for lung cancer in women ranged from about 2 to 1 to 3 to 1 in studies carried out in the 1950s and 1960s. As women have begun to smoke earlier in life, smoke more cigarettes a day, and inhale more deeply, we are now observing much higher SMRs in women with lung cancer, similar in magnitude to those seen in men in the earlier studies.

[1]  W. Blot,et al.  Passive smoking and lung cancer among Japanese women. , 1986, Cancer research.

[2]  L. Garfinkel,et al.  Smoking habits and tar levels in a new American Cancer Society prospective study of 1.2 million men and women. , 1986, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[3]  R. Herning,et al.  Smokers of low-yield cigarettes do not consume less nicotine. , 1983, The New England journal of medicine.

[4]  L. Kozlowski,et al.  A comparative study of the amount of smoke absorbed from low yield ('less hazardous') cigarettes. Part 2: Invasive measures. , 1982, British journal of addiction.

[5]  J. Robinson,et al.  A comparative study of the amount of smoke absorbed from low yield ('less hazardous') cigarettes. Part 1: Non-invasive measures. , 1982, British journal of addiction.

[6]  G. Piper.  The Health Consequences of Smoking for Women , 1981 .

[7]  R. Doll,et al.  Mortality in relation to smoking: 22 years' observations on female British doctors. , 1980, British medical journal.

[8]  E. Wynder,et al.  Comparative epidemiology of tobacco-related cancers. , 1977, Cancer research.

[9]  R. Doll,et al.  Mortality in relation to smoking: 20 years' observations on male British doctors. , 1976, British medical journal.

[10]  E. C. Hammond,et al.  "Tar" and nicotine content of cigarette smoke in relation to death rates. , 1976, Environmental research.

[11]  S. Stellman.  Cigarette yield and cancer risk: evidence from case-control and prospective studies. , 1986, IARC scientific publications.

[12]  S. Schachter.  Pharmacological and Psychological Determinants of Smoking , 1978 .

[13]  J. Loewen,et al.  The health consequences of smoking. , 1970, The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society.

[14]  Hammond Ec,et al.  Smoking in relation to the death rates of one million men and women. , 1966 .

[15]  E. C. Hammond,et al.  Smoking in relation to the death rates of one million men and women. , 1966, National Cancer Institute monograph.