MEMORANDUM FOR: Science Writers and Editors on the Journal Press List: New Study Links Cigarette Smoking and Colorectal Cancer

Extract

November 30, 2000 (EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE 4 P.M. EST December 5)

A large new study concludes that 12% of deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States may be linked to cigarette smoking.

Ann Chao, Ph.D., Michael Thun, M.D., and colleagues at the American Cancer Society (ACS), Atlanta, Ga., present the results of their study of nearly 800,000 men and women in the Dec. 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. They report that rates of death from colorectal cancer were highest among current smokers, intermediate among former smokers, and lowest among never smokers.

Current male smokers had a 32% higher rate of death from colorectal cancer than nonsmokers, and current female smokers had a 41% higher rate. These higher rates of death became evident after 20 or more years of smoking, increased with duration of smoking and the average number of cigarettes smoked per day, and were higher for smokers who started at a younger age. Current smokers who had smoked pipes or cigars exclusively for 20 years or more had a 34% increase in the rate of colorectal cancer deaths. The rate in people who had quit smoking decreased as a function of years since quitting in both men and women.