Tobacco Documents Online

Wu, A.H., Henderson, B.E., Pike, M.C. and Yu, M.C., "Smoking and Other Risk Factors for Lung Cancer in Women," Journal of the National Cancer Institute 74(4): 747-751, 1985. A total of 149 white women diagnosed with~adenocarcinoma (ADC) and 71 with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were included in this case-control study carried out in Los Angeles county, California. The purpose of the study was to investigate the roles of several potential etiological factors in female lung cancer. One individually matched neighborhood control was selected for each interviewed case. The questionnaire employed included personal smoking habits, exposure to "passive tobacco smoke,'"' lung diseases, dietary intake of vitamin A, types of heating and cooking, fuels used, reproductive history andemployment history. Regarding ETS, questions were asked about smoking in the household during childhood, spousal smoking and smoking by other household members during adulthood, and average number of hours/day of exposure at the workplace. Of the total, only 29 ADC and 2 SCC cases were nonsmokers. RRs were presented for the ADC cases: smoking by parents, RR = 0.6 (95% CI 0.2-1.7), spousal smoking, RR = 1.2, (95% CI 0.5-3.3) and workplace exposure, RR = 1.3 (95% CI 0.5-3.3). Regarding confounders, history of lung! disease before age 16 was reportedly statistically significantly associated with ADC (RR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.1-6.7). Elevated RRs were also reported for exposure to burning coal used for heating or cooking during childhood and teenage years. A significantly increased ADC risk was reported for the lowest level of beta-carotene consumption; however, no associations were reported for an index of total preformed vitamin A or for total vitamin A intake.