US
Researchers have asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review and potentially prohibit filtered cigarettes, after recently published results of a review saying they may lead to a specific type of lung cancer. Researchers at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, said ties exist between filters in cigarettes and a type of lung cancer called adenocarcinoma. As such, they ask FDA to regulate its use and to consider measures inclusive of prohibition.
Peter Shields, co-author of the study, deputy director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at James Cancer Hospital, and professor at Ohio State University, said, “We can say with certainty that the ventilation holes affect how the tobacco burns. We can say with certainty that people take in more smoke from the cigarettes. There is good evidence, but not with absolute certainty, that the smoke with more cancer-causing agents gets deeper to the lungs where adenocarcinomas more commonly occur.”
In a published paper of the study, the researchers said, “The analysis strongly suggests that filter ventilation has contributed to the rise in lung adenocarcinomas among smokers. Thus, FDA should consider regulating its use, up to and including a ban.”