[C-U Smokefree] Much higher risks of lung cancer from second hand smoke

[Theotskl at aol.com]

Hi all--

The piece below suggests much higher quantifiable risks of lung cancer from 
exposure to second hand smoke: 

 """""""""""""""".........researchers measured lung cancer risk for 
nonsmokers based on levels of adult exposure to secondhand smoke in the home, in the 
workplace and in social settings. The researchers found that nonsmokers exposed 
in those places had a lung cancer risk 18 to 32 percent higher than those not 
exposed. The risk increased with more areas and longer durations of exposure. 
"""""""""""""""

By the way, in epidemiological terms, 18-32 percent increase in risk is , 
well for lack of other term, is very big.  Such risk should not really be 
escaping the attention of local, regional, state, or national policy planners and 
decision makers. 

T. H. Tsoukalas, Ph.D.
University of California at San Francisco





Detailed Article follows:

International Journal Of Cancer News Alert: Secondhand Smoke and Lung Cancer 
Researchers Quantify Lung Cancer Risks From Secondhand Smoke 
Long-term Exposure in Multiple Settings Poses Greatest Risk 
Experts have long agreed that secondhand smoke is carcinogenic to nonsmokers. 
Now, a new study to be published in the International Journal of Cancer - the 
official journal of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) - 
quantifies the risk of lung cancer for nonsmokers based on their levels of smoke 
exposure. The results of this study will be published online December 10, 2003 via 
Wiley InterScience and will be available at 
http://www.interscience.wiley.com/ijc. 
Led by Dr. Paul Brennan of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 
Lyon, France, a team of researchers measured lung cancer risk for nonsmokers 
based on levels of adult exposure to secondhand smoke in the home, in the 
workplace and in social settings. The researchers found that nonsmokers exposed in 
those places had a lung cancer risk 18 to 32 percent higher than those not 
exposed. The risk increased with more areas and longer durations of exposure. 
The new study pooled data from two large previously reported case control 
studies in Europe and the United States. Data was gathered from 1263 lung cancer 
patients who had never smoked, as well as 2740 controls, about their exposure 
to secondhand smoke - from a spouse, at work, and in social settings. It also 
considered information about other potential causes of lung cancer - including 
diet, and occupational exposure to known carcinogens. The researchers then 
conducted a statistical analysis based on unconditional logistic regression 
modeling. For varying categories, they determined odds ratios with 95 percent 
confidence intervals. 
The results indicate a dose-response relationship, in which the 
never-smokers' risks of lung cancer increased with their exposure to secondhand smoke. 
Never-smokers whose spouses had ever smoked had an increased lung cancer risk of 
18 percent. Those whose lived with smoking spouses for more than 30 years had 
an increased lung cancer risk of 23 percent. Those exposed to smoke in the 
workplace had an increased lung cancer risk of 13 percent. When exposed to 
secondhand smoke in the workplace for more than 21 years, the risk jumped to 25 
percent. Those exposed to secondhand smoke in social settings had an increased lung 
cancer risk of 17 percent. When exposed for 20 or more years in social 
settings, their risk was 26 percent above the lung cancer risk of never exposed 
nonsmokers. Never-smokers exposed to the most secondhand smoke from all sources 
combined, had the highest levels of increased risk - 32 percent when exposure 
was long term. 
"Clear dose-response relationships consistent with a causal association were 
observed between exposure to secondhand smoke from spousal, workplace and 
social sources and the development of lung cancer among never-smokers," the 
authors report. 
Though a certain amount of misinformation was likely inherent in the data - 
the unexposed group would have been exposed to some extent, for example, and 
self-described never-smokers might be, in reality, long-term quitters - the 
researchers conducted sensitivity analyses for the effects of misclassification 
and found that the observed risks were likely to underestimate the true risk. 
The authors found no evidence that other measured risks - including diet and 
occupation - had an effect on lung cancer risk. They also found that 
secondhand smoke exposure increased a nonsmoker's risk for squamous/small cell 
carcinoma more than for adenocarcinoma, which is broadly compatible with the stronger 
association between active smoking and squamous/small cell carcinomas as 
opposed to adenocarcinoma. 
"In conclusion, our pooled analysis provides more precise estimates of the 
effect of secondhand smoke on lung cancer risk in non-smokers from all sources 
than those previously obtained in individual studies," the authors report, "and 
emphasizes the importance of protecting non-smokers from secondhand smoke." 
Article: "Secondhand smoke exposure in adulthood and risk of lung cancer 
among never-smokers. A pooled analysis of two large studies." Paul J. Brennan PhD, 
Patricia A. Buffler PhD, Peggy Reynolds PhD, Anna H. Wu PhD, H.-Erich 
Wichmann MD PhD, Antonio Agudo MD, Göran Pershagen MD, Karl-Heinz Jöckel PhD, Simone 
Benhamou MD, Raymond S. Greenberg MD PhD, Franco Merletti MD, Carlos Winck MD, 
Elizabeth T.H. Fontham DrPH, Michaela Kreuzer PhD, Sarah C. Darby PhD, 
Francesco Forastiere MD, Lorenzo Simonato MD, Paolo Boffetta MD., International 
Journal of Cancer, Published online December 10, 2003.
About the International Journal of Cancer 
The International Journal of Cancer, the Official Journal of the 
International Union Against Cancer (UICC), has long been established as a leading 
publication for original papers and review articles on the spectrum of topics germane 
to experimental and clinical cancer research. The International Journal of 
Cancer concentrates on the fundamental studies that have relevance to the 
understanding and effective treatment of human cancer. This resource is distinctive 
for publishing epidemiological studies from all over the world, to a magnitude 
not instituted anywhere else in oncology-related literature. 

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