Tobacco Documents Online

7 ' ® ~31C ~ O r 3 ~ 8 © C a Y TOR: TOSAOCO LNDOBTRY RSSSARCH CCAMIITPEB lOR PMxsS*• IN AM'a 01 iRIDAY, AOVI?ffiIIt 27, 1959 C/L'4LER 6CIF77TI6T'8 Wl441STg 014 6MKR0-It180 CAACER REYM 21av Zork -- Dr. C. C. Little, seieat+.lic direotor of the 'lbbaeco Industry Researc.h Committee, today issued a commeat,oa the statement of the Publie Eealth 6rrvice on "B:aohing aad Ttmg Cencer." Dr. Little's comoeat folloYs: "Tods,y, more thaa ever before, scientific evideaoe is acevmnlatta6 that ceariicts vith or fails to suyport the tobsceo"txating theories of lnng csncer. 'YAny of these ban beea oaitted from or glossed over in the Public Esaltb 8ervioe article and press release. ~ 'Within recent matha, nev eridenee hat beaa presented that: "l. ?Ynds that peopl.e described as the wrld's heaviest cigarette smokers bave 1ov lcmg osacer death rates c:onpared vith people vLo saoke less but have been long eaposed to urbaa air pollution. '2. Sbow that dir.ct inhalation of tobacco smoke by laboratory taimals ovsr lcmg periods of tlme naa not renilted in causing lnng cancer in tLeae "3. Reveale that human lung tissues uadarg,o changes, considered anspicious by a„'me, that s.re found a9ong both 7otmg and old, non-smokers and sxkers, vkile lung tissues 'aay be perfectly normal in beary smokers.' "4. Contirms the long-eatablished but little publieited fsct that lung cancer occur; core frequently in people Vho hara a nedicnl history of previous se rious lung ailments, such as tubercnlosis, paeunonis and influeaxa, indl;ating a relationship of possible significaace. (more) 11311722 C MI 1 4 ! I l y! 0 431 Rsl 4

C° "Dsspite these recent research trends, the eonelusions set rorth in the reviw rely almost entirely oa past repo•rts that are no soro cooclnsire today than when these reports vere first qdblishad. ?Iost of tbe points ars not new but ass fsmiliar to the Aaerican public beosuss tbey ver first aCvsnced some years sgo in statistica7l stodies that admitted]y are not supported by experimeIIEal eridence. "Indeed, the eonelusions stated vill not seea to aaay Vho reed thea care2ul.i,y to be esteblisbed even by ths rn11 context of the reviw as publisbad. 'Tor instaace, the re.iw clearly states that sxperimsatal evidence does not support the theocies. "Fhe reviev recognises that lung cancer stllicts nonsmokr.rs, aad therefore can't alt be bSamed on smoking. It concedes the stiL1-to be eTalaated role of air pollutants sad occupational axposnzss. It s4alts differences in lung eancer incidence rates that carsot be erpls.ined by the snoking tbeory. '*2Ia conclusions place coxplete rslisme on opinions gublisbed by those who are ooemnitted to the tbeory tLat tobsceo has the principal ceUSative role in lung cancer. 'Toar in¢portsnt sreaa of research fiadings that ars givsn little or no weight in eonsideration of the problem are the rollvwingt '7. The British Hedical Jotraal in Octobar published detsiled svidenee suggssting that sir pallutioa, nat cigarette smoking, is a =jor factor in lung eanoer in South Africa. White nalss there bare long been ROm4 the h•avi*nt Rtsa.+1.+- .wnr.... t- .U., ......%a - .J. _ . .. - 0 J C "E°R MIN 0431R.-W5

-3- "IaterestinBly, these findings are similer to those reported in 195b trom Hev Zea7.aad, %&ere lung cancer death ratea vars also associatad vith prerious residence in industrial cities rather than vith the rate or cigerette saoldn8. '2. Rwterocs expesinents both hers and abroad exposing aXperlaauCal aais:als to direct inhalation of tobaeco ea+oYe have bsan reported. lfone of these has yro3ucad rvid.ace of ltmg cancer oansed iaahase animaI .a by the ssoke. "Ia Jay, the 8ritish L0ire Cancer Csapatgn reported that five Tears of sueh ucperiasats produced 'striking negative results' by not causing lung cancers in the anim.ls. The significance of snch inhalatioa eapariments compared vith aaSmal sYin-paintiag tests is, of ceurae, obrioas. "3. The reviev refers to one et114V concerning certain eell changes fouad in htiaan lung.s. 9ut other izrves'tigators don't n4pcrt thate olairs. Tbe lstter reDort such chaages in the langs of yama people aaR old people vho have never ssao7ud aad they find no such changes in mxy old people vith a long histoc7 of asoYirg. •poe such rece=t sttAjr :rported that the lung liaing 'miy be perfectly oo:aal in heaTy srakars, wnn in sua vbo hare smclced lron a3olssceace aad reached a coanmption oi 40 cigarettes a day.' `Such findings aske it obvious that the oell changes under stuQ7 are neither a sole result of isating -• since they are found in aon-smoters -- not a necessazy result of sao:aira -- since they are not foun3 in man,y heavy smokers. "4. An incraasin3 nusber of scientists are nov eoafirmitfg a close relationship bctveen tba incidence of lung cancer and a aedieal history of previous lung s.llments eucb as peeumonia, tubercalosis, inflnensa and bronchitis. ~Y One nev study found a very high co.-zelation betveen a positive tuberculin reaction and lung cancer, vith a relatively lover rate of cigarette sa*ing =ong the lung cancer patients. (scre ) 11311724 k t~r f f"ti ~ i N ti.A ""'f' 3i, r+~ 6

'-4- ^Tb+se :rportr a:e onlr nov ccodaa to scieatitic aasation as a rerult of the i.acreaasa recesrch iato the yrobl.ezt of itms camcer in recent yeara. 'They shav cleariy that vs are only at the thresholQ of nrAarstrading ths bree!!th aad !l.epth of the lung ceacer yrrobl,em." (lfat.o AttsnLeb sr. • fev of the scientific citatioas oa v`-iah tbe above . foar points .rs Dssed.) i 11311725 L E.: ~FR NN 043 ~ ~ ,~