Herbert Seidman

“Tar” and nicotine content of cigarette smoke in relation to death rates

Abstract Over 1,000,000 men and women who enrolled in an epidemiological study in 1959–1960 were (with few exceptions) traced for 12 years. They all answered questionnaires on cigarette smoking and various other factors at time of enrollment; and survivors answered repeat questionnaires on three later occasions. In this analysis, cigarette smokers were classified by the amount of tar and nicotine delivered by the brand they usually smoked at the start of each of two 6-year periods. Among subjects who smoked the same number of cigarettes a day, total death rates, death rates from coronary heart disease, and death rates from lung cancer were somewhat lower for those who smoked “low” tar-nicotine cigarettes than for those who smoked “high” tar-nicotine cigarettes. The death rates of subjects who smoked “low” tar-nicotine cigarettes were far higher than the death rates of subjects who never smoked regularly.

Cancer death rates by site and sex for religious and socioeconomic groups in New York City

Abstract Age adjusted death rates by sex are presented for the various sites of cancer for subgroups of the 25–64 year old non-Puerto Rican white population of New York City, 1949–1951, classified jointly by religious group and socioeconomic status. Rates by sex and site of cancer are also given for those of Puerto Rican descent, non-Puerto Rican negroes, and for the other nonwhites.

LONG‐TERM MORTALITY EXPERIENCE OF CHRYSOTILE MINERS AND MILLERS IN THETFORD MINES, QUEBEC

Among a cohort of 544 men with at least 20 years of employment in chrysotile mining and milling at Thetford Mines, Canada, 16% of the deaths were from lung cancer and 15% from asbestosis. The excess over expected deaths from these causes account for 43 of 178 deaths in the group. The risk of death of asbestosis, at equal times fron onset of exposure, is very similar in miners and millers, factory workmen and insulators. The ratio of observed to expected deaths from lung cancer is similar in the miners and millers and factory workers, but higher in insulators. The risk of death of mesothelioma in miners and millers is decidedly less than the other two groups. The exact causes of the reduced risk in this category are not yet completely clarified.

Cancer of the breast. Statistical and epidemiological data

This article provides statistical and epidemiological data on breast cancer incidence mortality and end-results including material on various systems of clinical staging and trends with time in broad categories of types of treatment. Among women in the United States the breast is the leading site of cancer in both incidence and mortality. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among 40-44 year old women and a frequent cause from ages 30 to 34. It is 100 times as frequent in women as in men. Single women have a relatively greater risk of 1.35-2.3 to 1 compared to ever-married women; infertile ever-married women have a risk of 1.15-1.6 to 1 as compared to fertile women; fertile women under age 35 have a higher rate. Women with 3 or more children have a lower rate by 1.5-2 times and women with a first pregnancy after age 25 have a double risk over those with a first pregnancy before age 20. Excess risk has been found in those less than 12 years at menarche compared with those 15 and older at menarche. Also those with 30 or more years of menstrual activity have greater risk. Those who have nursed 3 or more years have a reduced risk. Artificial menopause may reduce risk 50-60% particularly if produced before age 37. A history of cancer among mothers or sisters of patients doubles the risk and cystic disease of the breast increases the risk 2.64 times. Endocrine factors and genetic influences are considered important. The world-wide probability of breast cancer occurrance rises with advancing age but in the United States the largest number of cases occur for age groups 45-49 through 55-59. Detailed rates are given by country and by regions of the United States. Breast cancer rates have been found to be inversely related to cervical cancer rates; however cancers of the body of the uterus ovary or colon do not show this variation. Various studies give 5-yr survival rates ranging from 38% to 61-71%. In more recent years reported survival rates are increasing. Differences between the International system and the American system of classification are noted; a major difference is that tumors exceeding 5 cm diameter and with no evidence of spread are assigned to Stage 3 under the International system and to Stage 1 under the American. Pathologic information frequently modified clinical evaluation and may be a better index of prognosis. Of cases among men survival rate adjusted for age was about the same as for women; for negro men less. Among women the left breast was more frequently involved by among men it was the right. Immunochemical detection techniques earlier detection methods newer hormones ways of increasing host resistance and especially prevention are under study.

Longevity of parents and grandparents in relation to coronary heart disease and associated variables.

This paper is based upon an analysis of data from a prospective epidemiological study in which a large number of men and women were traced for six years after they answered a detailed questionnaire. The subjects were divided into seven groups according to the longevity of their parents and grandparents. Death rates from coronary heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, and stroke were found to be considerably higher among subjects with short-lived parents than among subjects with long-lived parents. This was found to be the case for coronary heart disease among men without a history of high blood pressure or diabetes, who were not seriously overweight, who took some exersise, and who never smoked cigarettes regularly.

Cancer statistics, 1976 a comparison of white and black populations.

Comparisons of cancer statistics in the white and black populations reveal large differences between the two groups. Some of these differences may be due to artifacts of case finding and some to true biologic variations, but the majority must be attributed to environmental and socioeconomic factors. (There is a gene tic basis for the much greater incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer among whites than blacks. However, these cancers are generally not life-threat ening and, as is customary nowadays, they are not included in the data which follow. Similarly excluded are all in situ carcinomas.) The following article compares white and black populations in regard to: •¿ the probability of developing and dying of cancer; •¿ trends in cancer incidence and mortal ity over the last several decades; •¿ stage of disease at diagnosis; •¿ survival following diagnosis.

INCIDENCE OF CUTANEOUS CANCER IN MINNESOTA.

In a survey conducted in Minnesota, a special effort was made to record cases of cutaneous cancer encountered in 1963 by dermatologists, radiotherapists, and pathologists. The latter group probably includes almost all of the patients treated by surgeons in hospitals and the great majority of those treated by surgeons in their offices. In an earlier sample study, we found this to be true of general practitioners. A total of 2,358 Minnesotans was identified as having cutaneous cancer, presenting first during 1963. This exceeded the most plausible estimates based on previously available data. The annual incidence rates recorded were 71.5 per 100,000 men and 47.2 per 100,000 women. These rates place cutaneous cancer clearly in front among types of cancer in Minnesota, although it is a northern state whose population has relatively low actinic exposure.

Probabilities of eventually developing and of dying of cancer (risk among persons previously undiagnosed with the cancer).

future lifetime of a person as he advances in age. Since these may not be the rates which will prevail at the time he does attain a given age, the probabilities should be regarded only as approximations of the actual ones. In this paper, “¿ developing― cancer means being diagnosed as having cancer. The probabilities presented are influenced by the capability of detecting the disease at particular times. The deaths from can cer are those in which cancer was coded as the underlying cause based on informa tion on the death certificate; the deaths in which cancer was present but not specified as the underlying cause are not included. There are sometimes discrepancies in the recording of site of cancer between the morbidity surveys and the death certifi cation. In addition, the deaths are refer able not only to the cancer cases diag nosed in the given year, but also to cases diagnosed in previous years. Thus the dif ference between those eventually develop ing and those eventually dying of cancer cannot be construed to be those “¿ cured― or those free of cancer at time of death, though one would anticipate that for high ly lethal cancers, the two measures would be close to one another.

Lung cancer among jewish, catholic and protestant males in New York city

Vital statistics data for the Caucasian population of New York City show that the lung cancer mortality of Jewish males is now decidedly lower than that of Catholic or Protestant males. Jewish males have reversed with time from being a high lung cancer rate group, relative to the Catholics or Protestants, to being a low rate group. Data from a study in 1959 of Caucasian men living in large cities of the United States other than New York City indicate that the proportion of men smoking cigarettes was lowest in Jews and highest in Catholics. Among the cigarette smokers Jewish men smoked fewer cigarettes. More Jews smoked pipes and/or cigars, only. Also, the proportion of men occupationally exposed to inhalants such as gas, dust or fumes was smallest in Jews.

BRAIN TUMORS AMONG OPERATING ENGINEERS IN THE CHEMICAL AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN TEXAS AND LOUISIANA

A variety of epidemiological studies have indicated a higher incidence of cancer among individuals employed in the chemical and petrochemical industries. ’-’ These include reports of increased malignancy rates among chemists’ and excess cancer mortality among workers employed in the rubber ind~s t ry , ’ ,~ the dye or vinyl chloride polyrner izat i~n.~-~ More recently, the refining industry has come under suspicion with an analysis of 3105 deaths of members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union suggesting excess cancer of the brain, stomach, lung, leukemia, and multiple A study of cancer rates by county has shown those counties with petroleum or petrochemical industries to have higher rates than demographically similar areas for cancers of the lung, nasal cavity and sinuses, and skin including melanoma.’ Brain cancer, in particular, has been cited as a risk among petrochemical workers with the finding of 18 primary malignancies among employees at one Texas petrochemical plant from 1965 through March 1980.“ The preliminary estimates suggested that the excess risk was twice that expected among white males of the area in which the plant was located. While an excess brain tumor mortality appeared to be present, no common chemical exposures or work assignments were identified among the cases. In particular, although vinyl chloride was produced at the plant in question, an examination of the work histories of the 18 cases did not provide a significant positive correlation with exposure to the monomer. In order to obtain further information on the possible extent of the risk of brain malignancy from exposure to chemical agents, we have conducted a proportionate mortality analysis of the deaths of 590 members of the International Union of Operating Engineers from locals whose membership is predominantly from the chemical and petrochemical industries. At the same time, we have also analyzed 742 deaths of members of the same union in the same geographic area, but who were employed as construction or maintenance workers. This comparison population will assist us in identifying biases that may arise from the use of proportionate mortality analysis. For example, proportionate mortality analyses of groups that are primarily composed of employed individuals typically show increased risks of cancer relative to other causes. This is a manifestation of different time courses of a “healthy worker effect” for cancer and for other diseases.