Tobacco Documents Online

'v%.Z~ 1 . " ) j 1I11{lr-f, ~'I t-,7, (-) Fl',I N P,i !-,~),9 `;~t L tl, lt a J`ftJI.ILJIL2~~J ULil1L.`J T he Tobacm Institute, an industry tradt; orcanization, charges that'thc " Antcrican Cancer Society struck a low blow last scintcr tt•lten: it relcased~ the rtes:.rlts of unpablished research pur- portcaly proving that cigarette sno'c induced lun; cancer in~beag!cs. The ~doSs didn't suffer front characteristic human lung cancor, says the institute, asd dhta from the study aren't ss'ail-_ blc so it can make its own cvaluatian. f Not sa, says ACS. The smoke front the impasse has yeCto clear. Scienti,ic: consultants to the insti- i tute claim that the results of the hi,hly:. , publiciz~d stud'.• conducted by, p:thol- ogisl Oscar Auerbach of' the East Orang-c (\.J,) V>1 Hospital!and ACS ~ biostatistici:m E" Ctrclcr Hamnmo:rd arc ambiguous. \furcos'er, say patLol- ~ ogist Sheldbn Sonlmcrs of Ncst Yoru_'s Lcnox L:ill IIosp tili and biocl'•emist Arthur Irurst of the University of San Francisco, both the ACS and Dr. ~ Auc`bach have re,ectcd thr.`prci,o>al . .. a .r .. ...t..,..... . blbcl:cd thent from seeing the s.udys ~ 1unS-patlto'o,~y siides. Says Dr. Soatmcrs: _Qtr onlv. 1.no«'ld•se of IJ 1t.cri-h s-. ^„~ secoad hanJ.Iknm _r.c•.%sr_;r : c- ~ counts." Dr. -_Son n crs co-ncnd; t Mt 12 of the cigar Itcsmo{ n_ bm~!' s devrlbp ,d ad~•no:arcinonas„and only two, sq:.nntous cclt carcinon as. ~ "~b: , adcnocarcinomn of tllc hu- man 1un_ is infrequcnt," sau s Dr. Som- ntcrs, "so I do notsee:that this studv showed anythin, about smoking and : i }wman lung cancer. Funthcrmorc, we have seen larg~: glossy prints of the squamous typcs [see smaller print bc- lowl and they do not indic,rte clear- cut clnccr either on th surfacc or in- vasrvely: Presum: bly, th •sc %%crr their bcst pictures; if so, why areu't tiiey convincingl" - Joseph Culliuan 1'lt, chairr.:an of the Tobacco Institute, warns that I: ^_al steps mi;hb b2 taken to secure thc eontcsted data. "This research vras supponcd by public fu nds;" Cuilinan says. The beagle cxperintcnts were supported by the ACS and the VA. Replies Dr. Aucrbach: "If Dr. Sontmc.s wants to~sce the slid, ,, 1'11 show them to~ him. He never ;ked. Representatives fromith: Tobacco In- stitute wore at the sF,aial oprng mctt- ing whcn this niatcrial vcas first prc- sen sd. Escnbody received a eopy, of the research report." Mr. Cull n..nclirrr-a Fa•• c_nur th~.rl~ ;ti. ra unn rl i7d 13 ~i: tc o~ Cr. 'S..... r. ,""`. .i ~.•.. >- i....a -~-- -- ~ - ~urnuf ;:c:~ cl tki: r o rt.c~ t titis sciea- ti5c r.•sons but b=caude the story ap- pearcd in anoih:r meclical prrblirition: The researcl P t~r_s, scLetiulcd to bc ~i~"etr anew at tha r1`°[A m:eting in Chica,co on J1rnc 22, lie 'inc cc• t- sidcrcd i.,r_PrNica__inm i F1: t tr71.. ~Ic.+~ chilc, llr. At.tru; ch pDints out' that "seme of thc b:st patltol- o,ists in the ~~or1 7'os~ niacd thc slidass an&the data„and wncurocd v:ith tl::. conclusions." He adds, "Thc ihstitutC is doin- to tnc what Gcucrrl \lotors did to I:alph Nader. Andl cvcrybody has askcd mc: 'What is the institutc doing but giving me tuorepubGcity', 'I The concurring patltolo i;ts in- cluded Dr. Jo}ut Rcr„ chief )athol- ogist at the \ation:il C<mccr Institutc: "As far as 1' know," 1Dr. 13crgsa%s, "noo one has bcen dcnicd access to Dr. Aucrbach's datar L'coplc have bcen trackin ; in and out of his laboratory ever since his rcport ca=r: cut. And as for Dr. Somnicrs' poin:' about Qrc squamous ocll! pictures, I drni t find an3, reason for his unccrtairayc, I don't know h-j%v much surcn any 091: could be that they indicate incasix•e ca tcer. "If Dr. Soninters says thrt lung adcnocareiitoma is rare in humans, he's just~plain wrong. TruL;,thcy'rcnot as common assqp-tmous, LurI's"c just bccn lool.ing at som:, fi uros fro;n Connceticut st'herc th^ occurrencc of :dbnocarcinonra is put at 305~. Fur- thurrnore, many of thosc: adeno =_r- .-:~.•••.•+c ing scco,id::ry squamoustcll c~nz:rs." At this point, say" ACS offioiais, thcy, will requcst that the study data be an: !yzed by Dr: Jesse Steinfcl f, 4:e Sur.;oon Gcncral of the PI1S. And tile ollicc of' hc Su _con Gencral indicates thau it is receptive to thc rc,uc>t. The institute had proposcd to nomiu, ,c i't!c,own ro•icw panel subject to the socicty^ s veto for good caux." Commcnt ACS o(ln.tals: '.fisl ing thc institutc to appoint an inrl.artial group is like askin~; the wolf to exan.inc the ~ shecp „'d ': ' . To Dr. Sa::nmers (lr/t)• cridcnnr (crntrr) o/'sq:rnrnor,r ccll CarCiiroenn irrradih, n s unkir~ (,c,; !r's Lu,~ r+u!i'ir'rurron- vrircing: GnrA'Cl's 13r. Gcrg(ri.~4n) is alisoLucl}' con r ir7cc^ti.'