That the effects of smoking should be measured in pack-years: misconceptions 4

Lung cancer incidence in smokers is roughly proportional to dose rate (cigarettes per day) but increases much more rapidly with duration of smoking. The assumption that the incidence rate is proportional to total lifetime dose (the product of dose rate and duration) has been known to be wrong for many years, but total dose in pack-years is still often included, either alone or together, with more fundamental parameters such as dose rate, in regression analysis of epidemiological data. This is mathematically unnecessary and scientifically unhelpful. British Journal of Cancer (2012) 107, 406-407. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2012.97 www.bjcancer.com (C) 2012 Cancer Research UK