Relative risk of pulmonary cancer in cigar and pipe smokers

Smoking habits of 118 male patients with cancer of the lung from a rural area of Switzerland were compared with those obtained in a survey of all male inhabitants of a rural town in the same region. Adjusted relative risks of pulmonary cancer were computed for cigar and pipe smokers in relation to cigarette smokers. Adjustment was made for amounts smoked among cigarette smokers and an estimate of relative risk was obtained in relation to nonsmokers. Risk of pulmonary cancer for all smokers of products other than cigarettes was 5.6 times (95% confidence limits: 3.6 to 8.6) that for nonsmokers. For heavy cigar and pipe smokers the risk was 1.7 times that of cigarette smokers and 14.7 times that of nonsmokers (95% confidence limits: 8.9 to 24.4). The results of this study differ from those obtained in the United States but are compatible with findings in countries with a larger proportion of cigar and pipe smokers.