Lung Cancer from Cigaret Smoking

Our plain-English summary of Lung Cancer from Cigaret Smoking, by O. Auerbach (1971).

The study

• Author: O. Auerbach
• Published: New York State Journal of Medicine, Volume 71. September 1st 1971
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This item is not about asbestos. It reports a talk on cigarette smoking and lung cancer that Oscar Auerbach gave at a New York Society for Thoracic Surgery symposium in November 1970. The author described microscopic studies of airway tissue taken after death. In a 1961 study of 402 men (20,665 sections), lesions without cilia rose from 6 per cent of sections from men who never smoked regularly to 28.3 per cent for men smoking two or more packs a day. The figure for men who died of lung cancer was 27.4 per cent. The author used the term carcinoma in situ (abnormal cells not yet invading tissue) for noninvasive lesions that lacked cilia and were made entirely of atypical cells. A later study of 758 people who died of cancers other than lung cancer included 72 male ex-smokers. Cells with atypical nuclei were reported in 93.2 per cent of current smokers, 6 per cent of ex-smokers and 1.2 per cent of nonsmokers. The author concluded that the findings strengthen the conclusion that smokers who quit reduce their lung cancer risk.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Symposium presentation (report of proceedings) summarizing the author's and collaborators' microscopic (histologic) studies of the airways (tracheobronchial tree) of people examined after death
• Who was studied: Three groups. In 1957, 117 male patients who died with and without lung cancer. In 1961, 402 males, including nonsmokers and men who regularly smoked cigarettes up to their final illness. A later study of 758 subjects (456 men and 302 women) who died of cancer other than lung cancer, including 72 male ex-cigarette smokers. Places of study are not stated.
• Exposure: Cigarette smoking, by amount smoked (for example under one-half pack a day, two or more packs a day) and by smoking status (current smokers, nonsmokers, ex-smokers who had smoked at least ten years and had not smoked for at least five years before death). No asbestos exposure is mentioned.
• Main results:
  • In the 1957 study of 117 men, carcinoma in situ was found in 1 per cent of total slides from nonsmokers, 4.1 per cent of slides from those smoking less than one pack a day, and 6 per cent of slides from those smoking more than one pack a day.
  • In the 1961 study of 402 men, lesions with cilia absent rose from 6 per cent of sections from men who never smoked regularly to 28.3 per cent of sections from men who smoked two or more packs a day. The figure for men who died of lung cancer was 27.4 per cent.
  • In the 1961 study, lesions with cilia present were found in 11.8 per cent of sections from men who never smoked regularly, 88 per cent of sections from men who smoked under one-half pack a day, and 98.5 per cent of sections from men who smoked two or more packs a day.
  • Early invasive carcinoma of microscopic size was found in 23 sections from 7 men who died of lung cancer. In these sections, areas made up entirely of atypical cells merged into areas of definite invasive cancer.
  • On the basis of these sections, the author applied the term carcinoma in situ to noninvasive bronchial lesions composed entirely of atypical cells and lacking cilia.
  • In the ex-smoker study, cells with atypical nuclei were observed in 93.2 per cent of current smokers, 6 per cent of ex-cigarette smokers and 1.2 per cent of nonsmokers. Carcinoma in situ was found in only 0.2 per cent of ex-cigarette smokers.
  • 518 sections with disintegrating nuclei were found in ex-smokers and none in any other subjects. Of the 72 ex-smokers, 43 had one or more such sections.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the histologic findings strengthen the conclusion that cigarette smokers who give up the habit reduce their risk of lung cancer. The author also stated the opinion that the histologic evidence strengthens the epidemiologic evidence that cigarette smoking is a major factor in causing bronchogenic carcinoma (lung cancer).

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer, Thoracic Surgery, Carcinoma.

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