Passive smoking and cancer—American experience

Abstract

Although one U.S. case-control study has shown that nonsmoking women married to smokers have a greater risk of lung cancer than do nonsmoking women married to nonsmokers, data from the American Cancer Society's prospective study have failed to show such risk: and, a case-control study based on reports of whether or not nonsmoking women and men were exposed to smoke of others also failed to show an elevated risk of lung cancer. Data presented here indicate that 40-50% of nonsmoking American women married to nonsmokers may be exposed to passive smoke. More studies are needed to demonstrate the role of passive smoke in the development of lung cancer in nonsmokers. The American Cancer Society is currently collecting such data in a case-control and a prospective study.