Time trends in lung cancer mortality among nonsmokers and a note on passive smoking

Abstract

Lung cancer mortality rates were computed for nonsmokers in the American Cancer Society's prospective study for three 4-year periods from 1960 to 1972 and in the Dorn study of veterans for three 5-year periods from 1954 to 1969. There was no evidence of any trend in these rates by 5-year age groups or for the total groups. No time trend was observed in nonsmokers for cancers of other selected sites except for a decrease in cancer of the uterus. Compared to nonsmoking women married to nonsmoking husbands, nonsmokers married to smoking husbands showed very little, if any, increased risk of lung cancer.