Invited commentary: Is it time to retire the "pack-years" variable? maybe not!

American Journal of Epidemiology

Volumn 179, Issue 3, 2014, Pages 299-302

  Thomas, Duncan C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

cancer; cumulative exposure; exposure time response relationships; models of carcinogenesis; radiation; smoking; time related modifiers; tobacco

Indexed keywords

CANCER; CARCINOGEN; EPIDEMIOLOGY; IONIZATION; PREDICTION; RADIATION EXPOSURE; SMOKING; TOBACCO;

ARTICLE; CANCER RISK; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; EXPOSURE VARIABLE; HUMAN; IONIZING RADIATION; LINEAR ENERGY TRANSFER; LUNG CANCER; PASSIVE SMOKING; RADIATION EXPOSURE; RISK ASSESSMENT; RISK FACTOR; SMOKING; SMOKING CESSATION;

NICOTIANA TABACUM;

CANCER; CUMULATIVE EXPOSURE; EXPOSURE-TIME-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS; MODELS OF CARCINOGENESIS; RADIATION; SMOKING; TIME-RELATED MODIFIERS; TOBACCO;

HUMANS; LUNG NEOPLASMS; SMOKING; SMOKING CESSATION;

EID: 84892701014     PISSN: 00029262     EISSN: 14766256     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwt274     Document Type: Article

References (30)

1. Doll R, Peto R. Cigarette smoking and bronchial carcinoma: dose and time relationships among regular smokers and lifelong non-smokers. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1978;32(4): 303-313.
2. Knoke JD, Shanks TG, Vaughn JW, et al. Lung cancer mortality is related to age in addition to duration and intensity of cigarette smoking: an analysis of CPS-I data. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2004;13(6):949-957.
3. Lubin JH, Caporaso NE. Misunderstandings in the misconception on the use of pack-years in analysis of smoking. Br J Cancer. 2013;108(5):1218-1220.
4. Day NE, Brown CC. Multistage models and primary prevention of cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1980;64(4):977-989.
5. Brown CC, Chu KC. Implications of the multistage theory of carcinogenesis applied to occupational arsenic exposure. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1983;70(3):455-463.
6. Freedman DA, Navidi WC. Ex-smokers and the multistage model for lung cancer. Epidemiology. 1990;1(1):21-29.
7. Whittemore AS. Effect of cigarette smoking in epidemiological studies of lung cancer. Stat Med. 1988;7(1-2):223-238.
8. Hazelton WD, Clements MS, Moolgavkar SH. Multistage carcinogenesis and lung cancer mortality in three cohorts. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005;14(5):1171-1181.
9. Leffondre K, Abrahamowicz M, Xiao Y, et al. Modelling smoking history using a comprehensive smoking index: application to lung cancer. Stat Med. 2006;25(24):4132-4146.
10. Siemiatycki J. Synthesizing the lifetime history of smoking. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005;14(10):2294-2295.
11. Leffondre K, Abrahamowicz M, Siemiatycki J, et al. Modeling smoking history: a comparison of different approaches. Am J Epidemiol. 2002;156(9):813-823.
12. Thurston SW, Liu G, Miller DP, et al. Modeling lung cancer risk in case-control studies using a new dose metric of smoking. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005;14(10): 2296-2302.
13. Rachet B, Siemiatycki J, Abrahamowicz M, et al. A flexible modeling approach to estimating the component effects of smoking behavior on lung cancer. J Clin Epidemiol. 2004; 57(10):1076-1085.
14. Lubin JH, Caporaso N, Wichmann HE, et al. Cigarette smoking and lung cancer: modeling effect modification of total exposure and intensity. Epidemiology. 2007;18(5):639-648.
15. Lubin JH, Alavanja MC, Caporaso N, et al. Cigarette smoking and cancer risk: modeling total exposure and intensity. Am J Epidemiol. 2007;166(4):479-489.
16. Lubin JH, Caporaso NE. Cigarette smoking and lung cancer: modeling total exposure and intensity. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006;15(3):517-523.
17. Vlaanderen J, Portengen L, Schüz S, et al. Effect modification of the association of cumulative exposure and cancer risk by intensity of exposure and time since exposure cessation: a flexible method applied to cigarette smoking and lung cancer in the SYNERGY Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2014;179(3): 290-298.
18. Moolgavkar SH, Luebeck EG, Krewski D, et al. Radon, cigarette smoke, and lung cancer: a re-analysis of the Colorado Plateau uranium miners' data. Epidemiology. 1993;4(3): 204-217.
19. Thomas D, Pogoda J, Langholz B, et al. Temporal modifiers of the radon-smoking interaction. Health Phys. 1994;66(3): 257-262.
20. Lubin JH, Boice JD Jr, Edling C, et al. Radon-exposed underground miners and inverse dose-rate (protraction enhancement) effects. Health Phys. 1995;69(4):494-500.
21. Lubin JH, Boice JD Jr, Edling C, et al. Lung cancer in radon-exposed miners and estimation of risk from indoor exposure. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1995;87(11): 817-827.
22. Krewski D, Lubin JH, Zielinski JM, et al. A combined analysis of North American case-control studies of residential radon and lung cancer. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2006;69(7): 533-597.
23. Lubin JH. Estimating lung cancer risk with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Environ Health Persp. 1999; 107(suppl 6):879-883.
24. Surgeon General. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2006.
25. Kellerer AM, Rossi HH. A generalized formulation of dual radiation action. Radiat Res. 2012;178(2):AV204-AV213.
26. Thomas DC. Statistical Methods in Environmental Epidemiology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; 2009.
27. Thomas DC. Pitfalls in the analysis of exposure-time-response relationships. J Chron Dis. 1987;40(suppl 2):71S-78S.
28. Thomas DC. Exposure-time-response relationships with applications to cancer epidemiology. Annu Rev Public Health. 1988;9:451-482.
29. Preston DL, Pierce DA, Shimizu Y, et al. Dose response and temporal patterns of radiation-associated solid cancer risks. Health Phys. 2003;85(1):43-46.
30. Samet JM, Thun MJ, de Gonzalez AB. Models of smoking and lung cancer risk: a means to an end. Epidemiology. 2007;18(5): 649-651.