A Case-Control Study of Lung Cancer

A case-control study composed of 83 cases of lung cancer (87% of total deaths due to lung cancer) and 166 cases of sex-age-year death matched control, conducted in Miura City, Kanagawa, Japan revealed a significantly higher lung cancer risk in heavy smokers (r.r. for 40 or more cigarettes daily, 4.8) among those who started smoking in their teens (r.r. 6.9) and in fishermen with the various occupations (r.r. 2.06). Fishermen smoking 40 or more cigarettes daily showed the highest risk (r.r. 8.8) suggesting the combined effect of smoking and occupation-specific risk factor (s). Further, non-smoking wives were observed to have a significantly higher risk of lung cancer with the increase in the amount of smoking of their husbands, suggesting the influence of passive smoking.