Subj: Study fails to link passive smoking with cancer



Date: Sunday, 11 October 1998



Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)





Study fails to link passive smoking with cancer

By Victoria Macdonald, Health Correspondent 



THE World Health Organisation has finally published a study which shows

that there is no significant statistical link between passive smoking and

lung cancer.



As reported by The Telegraph in March, the 12-centre, seven-country

European study failed to prove the anti-tobacco lobby's assertion that

there is a significant correlation between passive smoking and lung cancer.



The 10-year study was co-ordinated by the WHO's International Agency for

Research on Cancer, based in Lyons, France, and involved 650 lung cancer

patients who were compared with 1,542 healthy people. It looked at people

who were married to or worked with smokers, who worked with and were

married to smokers, and those who grew up with smokers.



Data was also collected on other environmental factors, such as heating and

cooking arrangements, exposure to known occupational lung carcinogens, and,

in some centres, dietary habits.



The study, which has been published in the Journal of the National Cancer

Institute, and is the largest of its kind in Europe, shows that there is

"no relationship between childhood exposure to second-hand smoke at home

and lung cancer".



And it found a "statistically non-significant positive association" between

exposure to spousal smoking and lung cancer and for those who work with

smokers.



The IARC scientists said in March that their findings translated into a

16-17 per cent relative risk of contracting lung cancer if you lived or

worked with a smoker. But they now concede that 16-17 per cent is

statistically non-significant, implying that it could have been produced by

random chance.



The Telegraph was criticised for reporting the findings, which had been

quietly published in abstract form in the WHO's biennial report. Action on

Smoking and Health (Ash) reported The Sunday Telegraph to the Press

Complaints Commission claiming the article was "false and misleading".



Clive Bates, the director of Ash, said in a press release that the

publication supported his interpretation of the statistics. Mr Bates's

objection to this newspaper's report was largely founded on the headline:

"Passive Smoking Doesn't Cause Lung Cancer - Official". The word "official"

referred to the provenance of the findings - the WHO. Mr Bates continued:

"As yet, there has been no retraction, correction or apology by the

newspaper . . ."



The PCC has not yet made a decision on the complaint and the Ash press

release suggested that this was because of the appointment of Dominic

Lawson, the editor of The Sunday Telegraph, to the commission. 



Mr Lawson said last night: "The Sunday Telegraph has no intention of

apologising for stating that the WHO study showed no significant

statistical correlation between passive smoking and lung cancer. The press

release from the National Cancer Institute refers to 'statistically

non-significant' links and in the case of childhood exposure 'no

association' with lung cancer."



Mr Lawson added: "It is reprehensible of Ash to imply that I could in any

way delay the judgment of the PCC and, indeed, it would be most improper of

me to play any part in the PCC's deliberations on this matter."



In an interview with this newspaper on Friday Mr Bates said: "We are not

saying that if you are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke you are going

to fall down dead. If you are a non-smoker, you are not that likely to get

lung cancer."



He also said that the issue was heart disease. This was not, however, the

subject of the IARC report.