Lung Cancer and Passive Smoking

Fifty-one women with lung cancer and 163 other hospital patients were interviewed regarding the smoking habits of themselves and their husbands. Forty of the lung cancer cases and 149 of the other patients were non-smokers. Among the non-smoking women there was a statistically significant difference between the cancer cases and the other patients with respect to their husbands' smoking habits. Estimates of the relative risk of lung cancer associated with having a husband who smokes were 2.4 for a smoker of less than one pack and 3.4 for women whose husbands smoked more than one pack of cigarettes per day. The limitations of the data are examined; it is evident that further investigation of this issue is warranted.