ATLANTA, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Cigar smoking is associated with greatly
increased risk of death from several highly fatal cancers, according to a
study by researchers from the American Cancer Society and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in this week's Journal of the National
Cancer Institute.
Most significantly, the researchers found a five-fold overall increased
risk of death from lung cancer among male cigar smokers -- a much greater risk
than had been previously reported in the U.S. That risk increased further
among men who reported smoking three or more cigars a day (to 7.8 times the
risk of men who have never smoked) and men who inhale their cigar smoke (who
have 11.3 times the risk of lung cancer death of nonsmokers). However, even
men who said they did not inhale their cigar smoke had lung cancer death rates
more than three times that of men who had never smoked. According to Dr.
Jacobs, a co-author on the study and senior epidemiologist at the American
Cancer Society, "We expected to find some increased risk of lung cancer, but
we found that cigar smoking is much more lethal than we thought."
Cigar smoking also increased risk of death from cancer of the larynx by
more than 10 times and cancer of the oral cavity/pharynx by four times.
Current cigar smokers who said they inhaled their cigar smoke were 2.7 times
more likely to die of pancreatic cancer and 3.6 times more likely to die of
bladder cancer than men who never smoked.
"Results from this large prospective study support a strong association
between cigar smoking and mortality from several types of cancer," the authors
conclude.
The findings come from one of the largest prospective studies ever of
cigar smoking and cancer. The investigators evaluated data on more than
137,000 U.S. men participating in the American Cancer Society's Cancer
Prevention Study-II (CPS-II). After study participants completed a CPS-II
questionnaire in 1982, more than 7,800 men were categorized as current cigar
smokers, meaning they smoked at least one cigar daily and had never regularly
smoked cigarettes or pipes, another group of approximately 7,800 men were
categorized as former cigar smokers and more than 121,000 were categorized as
never smokers. The majority of men in the analysis were white and middle-aged
or elderly.
The researchers followed the men for 12 years, identified those who died
of cancer during that time period and used statistical analyses to
characterize the association between cigar smoking and death from
tobacco-related cancers, after accounting for other cancer risk factors.
"The number of cigars consumed in the United States increased by
approximately 50 percent between 1993 and 1998," the authors write, citing
government data. "This rapid increase is particularly striking because it
followed a 66 percent decline from 1964 through 1993. While cigarette smoking
is an important and well-established cause of many cancers, less is known
about the relationship between cigar smoking and the risk of cancer. Cigars
may not be perceived as a substantial health hazard, possibly because cigars
are not required to carry a health warning from the Surgeon General or because
of endorsements from celebrities associated with health and fitness ... "
According to the authors, "The importance of cigar smoking as a potential
emerging public health hazard is illustrated by data from the 1997 Youth Risk
Behavior Survey showing that 31 percent of U.S. high school boys and
11 percent of U.S. high school girls had reported smoking a cigar within the
past 30 days. Our results, together with those from previous studies,
indicate that, if these young people become regular cigar smokers, a sizable
number will develop a smoking-related cancer later in life."
The authors said that despite reports from tobacco-industry sources that
the "cigar craze" is over, the latest figures from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture show that cigar consumption in 1999 was the highest in recent
history, with a small decline in large cigar consumption more than offset by
an increase in consumption of smaller cigars, which are likely easier for
children to get because they are usually less expensive.
The researchers speculate that one reason they found higher death rates
from lung cancer than reported in previous U.S. studies of cigar smoking is
that there may have been changes over time in the type of cigars smoked in the
U.S., with cigars becoming more lethal over time.
According to the authors "changes in the pH of cigars may be particularly
important with respect to lung cancer because of the potential effect of pH on
inhalation patterns. While the pH of cigars is higher than cigarettes, pH
varies greatly between cigar types, with some brands having low pH levels
close to those of cigarettes. Low pH cigars may be particularly hazardous,
since, like cigarettes, they may require some degree of inhalation to achieve
substantial nicotine absorption, and their smoke may contain less free ammonia
and, therefore, be easier to inhale than the smoke from high pH cigars ... "
Study authors are Jean A. Shapiro, PhD, (first author) of CDC's National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Cancer
Prevention & Control; and Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, and Michael J. Thun, MD, of the
American Cancer Society's Department of Epidemiology and Surveillance
Research.
The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community-based, voluntary
health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem
by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer,
through research, education, advocacy and service.
For information about cancer, call toll-free anytime 1-800-ACS-2345 or
visit the American Cancer Society website at http://www.cancer.org.
SOURCE The American Cancer Society
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Related links:
http://www.cancer.org
CONTACT:
Joann Schellenbach, Corporate Communications
of The American Cancer Society, 212-382-2169, or
jschelle@cancer.org
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