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LYON, FRANCE. It is a well established fact that the smoking of cigarettes increases the
risk of lung cancer by a factor of about 15. The situation regarding pipe and cigar smoking
is not quite so clear and some studies have shown comparatively little increase in lung
cancer risk among cigar and pipe smokers. Now a team of European researchers from
nine major medical centers reports that pipe and cigar smokers also face a vastly
increased risk of lung cancer. Their study involved 5621 men with lung cancer and 7255
matched controls. The researchers found that pipe smokers increased their risk of
developing lung cancer by a factor of 7.9 as compared to non-smokers while cigar and
cigarillos (small cigars) smokers increased their risk by a factor of 9. Cigarette smokers
were found to have a 14.9 times higher risk of lung cancer than were non-smokers. Cigar
smokers who began their habit before the age of 20 years were particularly vulnerable to
lung cancer as were those who smoked more than 15 grams per day and had been
smoking for a long time. Heavy smokers of cigars and cigarillos were found to have a 35
times greater risk than non-smokers and smokers who inhaled had a five times greater
risk than smokers who did not. The researchers conclude that cigar and pipe smoke is
just as carcinogenic as cigarette smoke and that previous results indicating that pipe and
cigar smoking may be safer can be explained by the fact that pipe and cigar smokers tend
to smoke less and start the habit later in life.
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