Race and sex differences in lung cancer risk associated with cigarette smoking.

Despite the extreme differences in the incidence of lung cancer between black and white Americans of each sex, little information is available on the sex-race-specific lung cancer risk due to tobacco use. In the current study, case-control data were examined for sex-race differences in the lung cancer risk associated with cigarette smoking. Results indicate that Kreyberg I lung cancers (squamous cell and oat cell carcinomas) are associated with heavier intensity of smoking than Kreyberg II lung cancer (adenocarcinomas and alveolar cell carcinomas); blacks are at higher risk than whites (relative risk = 1.8), and women are at higher risk than men for a given level of smoking (RR = 1.7). Our findings indicate the existence of important differences in the smoking-associated risk for lung cancer which depend upon sex, race, and histology.