Tobacco Company Funded Lung Cancer Research

By Daniel Hawn

Published on March 27, 2008

The revelation of hidden tobacco funding behind the study has surprised the research community and generated new worries about the influence of Big Tobacco in lung cancer research.

The study in question was conducted by Dr. Claudia Henschke, of Weill Cornell Medical College, in 2006. The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that advanced X-rays known as spiral CT scans can detect lung tumors earlier than traditional X-rays.

According to The New York Times article, tiny print at the end of the study revealed that it was funded in part by a foundation created by Cornell. The New York Times looked into the foundation's tax records and found that it was financed largely by $3.6 million in grants from the parent corporation of Liggett Group Inc., maker of Eve, Quest, Grand Prix, Pyramid, and Liggett Select brand cigarettes.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, head of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, criticized the study, saying its links to outside interests make the results highly suspect. However, Liggett spokeswoman Carrie Bloom said the company had no influence over the research or its findings.

When contacted about the study, a spokeswoman for the New England Journal of Medicine would say only that the journal was looking into the matter.

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