Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung; Preliminary Report
Richard Doll, A. Bradford Hill
Summary
In this hospital-based case-control study, Doll and Hill interviewed roughly 700 patients with carcinoma of the lung and a comparison group of patients with other diseases across London hospitals to assess the association between tobacco smoking and lung cancer. They found that lung-cancer patients were substantially more likely to be smokers and to be heavy smokers than the controls, with risk rising with the amount smoked. The authors concluded that smoking is an important factor in the production of carcinoma of the lung.
Key findings
- Patients with lung carcinoma reported markedly heavier cigarette consumption than matched control patients with other conditions.
- The risk of lung cancer increased progressively with the amount of tobacco smoked, indicating a dose-response relationship.
- The authors concluded that smoking is a probable and important causal factor in the development of carcinoma of the lung.
Subjects & keywords
Cite this paper
Richard Doll, & A. Bradford Hill (1950). Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung; Preliminary Report. British Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.4682.739
@article{doll1950smoking,
author = {Richard Doll and A. Bradford Hill},
title = {Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung; Preliminary Report},
journal = {British Medical Journal},
year = {1950},
doi = {10.1136/bmj.2.4682.739},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.4682.739}
}