Relationship between Cigarette Smoking and Histologic Type of Lung Cancer, with Special Reference to Sex Difference

Abstract

In order to clarify sex differences associated with the relationship between smoking and each histologic type of lung cancer, the smoking histories of 2,083 lung cancer patients (1,660 men and 423 women) diagnosed at the Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, from 1965 to 1983 were analyzed. The rates expected of smokers among these cases were calculated from the sex and age specific rates of smokers in the general population, reported annually by the Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation. The odds ratios for smoking were estimated to be 5.2, 3.1, 6.9 and 4.1 in men for squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, small cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma, and 7.2, 1.8, 14.4 and 3.8 in women respectively. Significant differences in the odds ratios for each histologic type between men and women were observed only for adenocarcinoma. In squamous cell carcinomas, the odds ratios were estimated by dividing them into two groups according to location. No difference was found between men and women in this respect.