Cigar smoking and lung cancer

  Study Shows Cigars and Pipes Are as Dangerous as Cigarettes

In recent years, martini clubs with cigar bars have gained new popularity, opening in many cities across the US. But a multi-center study from Europe has shown cigars to be about as dangerous as cigarettes for causing lung cancer.

The study’s key finding showed cigar and pipe smokers who smoke at a rate comparable to cigarette smokers have the exact same risk for developing cancer, said Paolo Boffetta, MD, lead study author and chief of the unit of environmental cancer epidemiology at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. The study was published in the April 21, 1999, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

"The conclusion of our study is the smoke of cigars, cigarillos, and pipes seems to have the same carcinogenic potency as the smoke of cigarettes. It is true that most cigar and pipe smokers smoke less than most cigarette smokers, which explains their overall lower risk of lung cancer. When we identified heavy smokers of cigars, cigarillos, and pipes, their risk was similar to that of cigarette smokers," Dr. Boffeta said.

The study is significant because increasing numbers of people are smoking cigars and cigarillos (smaller cigars) more frequently, according to Frank Baker, PhD, vice president of behavioral research and director of the Behavioral Research Center at the American Cancer Society (ACS).

"One year ago the Behavioral Research Center at the ACS had a conference in Washington, D.C., that 120 people attended - scientists, academics, public health experts. It was pretty clear from the reports by scientists of the trend for increased cigar smoking and that a greater number of cigars being smoked are being inhaled," Dr. Baker said.

Dr. Baker added the conclusions from the European study are "further proof that smoking any tobacco product is dangerous."

Another emerging trend, according to Dr. Baker, is cigar and cigarillo companies are beginning to make their products easier to inhale by altering their pH value. This is alarming, especially considering figures showing younger Americans are beginning to smoke cigars, he said.

"In the past, cigar smoking started with older individuals," Dr. Baker said. But recent research in Massachusetts and California showed adolescents are smoking cigars, he said.

According to the ACS, approximately 171,600 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 1999, accounting for 14 percent of all cancer diagnoses. An estimated 158,900 Americans will die from the disease this year, making it the most fatal cancer among both men and women.

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