Digoxin did not reduce overall mortality, but it reduced the rate of hospitalization both overall and for worsening heart failure. These findings define more precisely the role of digoxin in the management of chronic heart failure.

Alcohol and tobacco consumption are closely correlated and published results on their association with breast cancer have not always allowed adequately for confounding between these exposures. Over 80% of the relevant information worldwide on alcohol and tobacco consumption and breast cancer were collated, checked and analysed centrally. Analyses included 58 515 women with invasive breast cancer and 95 067 controls from 53 studies. Relative risks of breast cancer were estimated, after stratifying by study, age, parity and, where appropriate, women's age when their first child was born and consumption of alcohol and tobacco. The average consumption of alcohol reported by controls from developed countries was 6.0 g per day, i.e. about half a unit/drink of alcohol per day, and was greater in ever-smokers than never-smokers, (8.4 g per day and 5.0 g per day, respectively). Compared with women who reported drinking no alcohol, the relative risk of breast cancer was 1.32 (1.19 -1.45, P50.00001) for an intake of 35 -44 g per day alcohol, and 1.46 (1.33 -1.61, P50.00001) for 545 g per day alcohol. The relative risk of breast cancer increased by 7.1% (95% CI 5.5 -8.7%; P50.00001) for each additional 10 g per day intake of alcohol, i.e. for each extra unit or drink of alcohol consumed on a daily basis. This increase was the same in ever-smokers and never-smokers (7.1% per 10 g per day, P50.00001, in each group). By contrast, the relationship between smoking and breast cancer was substantially confounded by the effect of alcohol. When analyses were restricted to 22 255 women with breast cancer and 40 832 controls who reported drinking no alcohol, smoking was not associated with breast cancer (compared to never-smokers, relative risk for ever-smokers=1.03, 95% CI 0.98 -1.07, and for current smokers=0.99, 0.92 -1.05). The results for alcohol and for tobacco did not vary substantially across studies, study designs, or according to 15 personal characteristics of the women; nor were the findings materially confounded by any of these factors. If the observed relationship for alcohol is causal, these results suggest that about 4% of the breast cancers in developed countries are attributable to alcohol. In developing countries, where alcohol consumption among controls averaged only 0.4 g per day, alcohol would have a negligible effect on the incidence of breast cancer. In conclusion, smoking has little or no independent effect on the risk of developing breast cancer; the effect of alcohol on breast cancer needs to be interpreted in the context of its beneficial effects, in moderation, on cardiovascular disease and its harmful effects on cirrhosis and cancers of the mouth, larynx, oesophagus and liver. Many epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship between breast cancer and the consumption of alcohol and/or tobacco. References to over 80 studies that have collected relevant data, as well as to reviews of the subject, are given in Appendix II (www. bjcancer.com). The published results from these studies have general...

Objective: To describe anthropometric characteristics of participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Design: A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data of a European prospective cohort study. Subjects: This analysis includes study populations from 25 centres in nine European countries. The British populations comprised both a population-based and a 'healthconscious' group. The analysis was restricted to 83 178 men and 163 851 women aged 50 -64 years, this group being represented in all centres. Methods: Anthropometric examinations were undertaken by trained observers using standardised methods and included measurements of weight, height, and waist and hip circumferences. In the 'health-conscious' group (UK), anthropometric measures were predicted from self-reports. Results: Except in the 'health-conscious' group (UK) and in the French centres, mean body mass index (BMI) exceeded 25.0 kg m 22 . The prevalence of obesity (BMI $ 30 kg m 22 ) varied from 8% to 40% in men, and from 5% to 53% in women, with high prevalences (. 25%) in the centres from Spain, Greece, Ragusa and Naples (Italy) and the lowest prevalences (,10%) in the French centres and the 'healthconscious' group (UK). The prevalence of a large waist circumference or a high waistto-hip ratio was high in centres from Spain, Greece, Ragusa and Naples (Italy) and among women from centres in Germany and Bilthoven (The Netherlands). Conclusions: Anthropometric measures varied considerably within the EPIC population. These data provide a strong base for further investigation of anthropometric measures in relation to the risk of chronic diseases, especially cancer.

A case-control study of male-female differences in cigarette smoking and lung cancer was conducted during 1981-1985 in Toronto, St. Catharine's, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. In total, 442 female and 403 male histologically verified cancer cases were individually matched by age and area of residence to each other and to 410 female and 362 male randomly selected population controls. Subjects were interviewed concerning their exposures to various life-style factors, and in particular, they received detailed questioning regarding their lifelong histories of usage of tobacco products. It was found that, for both sexes, a greatly elevated risk of developing lung cancer was associated with cigarette consumption, increasing with pack-years of cigarettes smoked and declining with duration of time since quitting smoking. Furthermore, the association was significantly (p = 0.010) and appreciably stronger for females than for males. At a history of 40 pack-years relative to lifelong nonsmoking, the odds ratio for women was 27.9 (95% confidence interval (CI) 14.9-52.0) and that for men was 9.60 (95% CI 5.64-16.3). Higher odds ratios for females were also seen within each of the major histologic groupings. Thus, the higher elevated risk of lung cancer currently observed in other studies for female ever smokers compared with male ever smokers, while possibly attributable in part to greater smoking cessation among males, may be due to higher susceptibility among females.

Four authoritative reviews of active smoking and breast cancer have been published since 2000, but only one considered data after 2002 and conclusions varied. Three reviews of secondhand smoke (SHS) and breast cancer (2004-2006) each came to different conclusions. With 30 new studies since 2002, further review was deemed desirable. An Expert Panel was convened by four Canadian agencies, the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer to comprehensively examine the weight of evidence from epidemiological and toxicological studies and understanding of biological mechanisms regarding the relationship between tobacco smoke and breast cancer. This article summarises the panel's full report (http://www.otru.org/pdf/special/expert_panel_tobacco_breast_cancer.pdf). There are 20 known or suspected mammary carcinogens in tobacco smoke, and recognised biological mechanisms that explain how exposure to these carcinogens could lead to breast cancer. Results from the nine cohort studies reporting exposure metrics more detailed than ever/never and ex/current smoker show that early age of smoking commencement, higher pack-years and longer duration of smoking increase breast cancer risk 15% to 40%. Three meta-analyses report 35% to 50% increases in breast cancer risk for long-term smokers with N-acetyltransferase 2 gene (NAT2) slow acetylation genotypes. The active smoking evidence bolsters support for three meta-analyses that each reported about a 65% increase in premenopausal breast cancer risk among never smokers exposed to SHS. The Panel concluded that: 1) the association between active smoking and breast cancer is consistent with causality and 2) the association between SHS and breast cancer among younger, primarily premenopausal women who have never smoked is consistent with causality.