Tobacco Documents Online

PHI LIP MORRIS USA INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE 120 PARK AYENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y 1001'7' To' Mr Frank FResnik -1/ DA'n= November, 9, 1989 FROM: Jetson E. Lincoln SUBJECT:: Lung Cancer, Stomach Cancer, Physical Activity Levels, and Physical Fitness For a long time I knew of no reason, beyond the timing, coincidence, for believing that any part of the secular rise in lung cancer could be attributed to the secular decline in stomach cancer. Last summer, however, our international correlation studies found that some of the factors positively associated with the percentage of lung cancer to total cancer are also~ negatively associated with the percentage of stomachicancer to:total cancer. We.now have, in the attachedistudy of the rel!ationship~of physical activity levels to cancer, another indication of a, degree of reciprocal relationship between lung cancer and stoma~ch cancer. Higher physical activity levels are associatediwith lower lung cancer rates and!higher stomach cancer rates.('see table 1). The attachment is not to be confused withthe report, that physical fitness was protective against all causes of death including cancer, that recently received such wide publicity. Physical fitness~is only partly determined by physical activity, and there were too few cancers in the fitness study to look separately at the various cancer sites. However, it seems unlikely at this point that physical fitness could be a "risk factor" (positively associated) for total cancer without also being'a "risk factorl"for lung cancer. JL/cm cc: M. Bring. A. Holtzman R. W'. Murray