Models of smoking and lung cancer risk: a means to an end.

This commentary provides some historical context to the analysis of smoking and lung cancer risk by Lubin and colleagues in this issue of epidemiology. It also considers the potential utility of ongoing efforts to apply complex mathematical models to epidemiologic data on smoking and lung cancer risk. We conclude that the work of Lubin and colleagues adds to the models already developed and points to some potential complexities that models should incorporate.