SMOKERS who switch to low-tar cigarettes in a bid to avoid lung cancer
are fooling themselves鈥攚ith potentially fatal consequences. This finding
comes from epidemiologists who studied lung cancer cases in Switzerland between
1974 and 1994.
Brands of cigarettes containing relatively small amounts of tar are typically
inhaled more deeply than stronger cigarettes because they are less irritating to
the airways. The new study indicates that a switch to low-tar cigarettes leads
to a build-up of tar and tumours deeper in the lungs.
The team studied 7423 lung cancer cases from the cancer registries of the
Vaud and Neuch芒tel regions. The researchers looked at three types of lung
cancer: squamous cell carcinomas, small-cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas. The
last type occurs deeper in the airways.
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Over the whole period, squamous cell cancers accounted for 37 per cent of
lung cancer cases, while small-cell cancers and adenocarcinomas accounted for 18
per cent each. Between 1990 and 1994, a period in which low-tar cigarette brands
had become much more popular, squamous cell cancer fell by 30 per cent in men.
Small-cell tumour rates began to fall towards the end of the study. But
adenocarcinoma rates rose by 250 per cent, the researchers report in the latest
issue of the journal Cancer.
Overall, the rate of lung cancer rose over the period of the study by 3.4 per
cent. The researchers note, however, that Switzerland has been relatively slow
to switch to low tar brands. In other countries, overall lung cancer rates have
declined.
Carlo La Vecchia, an epidemiologist at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan who
led the study, says that the results highlight the severe cancer risk posed by
all cigarettes.
鈥淭his research shows that by smoking low-tar cigarettes rather than high-tar
ones you get fewer cancers in the main airways but more in the peripheries,鈥�
agrees Richard Peto of the University of Oxford. 鈥淚f high-tar cigarettes didn鈥檛
exist, then the biggest cause of cancer deaths in the world would still be
low-tar cigarettes.鈥�
The findings of La Vecchia and his colleagues coincide with the news that
British American Tobacco will consider out-of-court payouts to resolve its row
with lung-cancer victims. A spokesman says the company will consider
compensation offers that are 鈥渋n the interests of shareholders鈥�. Lawyers
representing lung-cancer sufferers suspect that a multibillion dollar settlement
may be offered in return for immunity against any further legal actions in the
US.
Such a deal may also influence the outcome of compensation claims in other
countries. Solicitor Martyn Day of Leigh, Day and Company, which represents 40
British cancer victims, says: 鈥淭obacco companies have survived by standing
together and never accepting any of the blame. This is the first big crack in
their defences.鈥�