HEADLINES

• US Study: Retail advertising increases smoking
• Smoking history linked to younger breast cancer diagnoses
• Singapore, New tobacco, substitute products to be banned
• WTO to rule on U.S. clove cigarette ban-sources

• US Study: Retail advertising increases smoking

  Teens who visit stores with cigarette advertising at least twice a week are significantly more likely to start smoking, according to a study, "A Longitudinal Study of Exposure to Retail Cigarette Advertising and Smoking Initiation," published in the August print issue of Pediatrics (published online July 19).
  
  Researchers studied 1,681 adolescents aged 11 to 14 years who had never smoked. The study authors focused on how often teens visited convenience, liquor and small grocery stores. These types of stores near schools were then assessed for the quantity of cigarette ads and pack displays. Overall, 18 percent of adolescents in the study started smoking. But among teens who visited the stores with the greatest amount of cigarette advertising at least twice a week, the rate of smoking initiation was 29 percent. Of teens who visited such stores less than twice per month, only 9 percent began smoking. The authors noted that unless retail promotion of tobacco products is addressed, the declines recently seen in smoking initiation are likely to end.

  Source: Medical News Today, 20 July 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/cjog95

• Smoking history linked to younger breast cancer diagnoses

  A history of smoking is associated with a younger age at breast cancer diagnosis in White, but not Black women, US research shows.

  "The mechanisms of possible relationships between smoking and breast cancer are not well understood," write Gary Freedman (Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and colleagues.

  Freedman and team hypothesized that if tumors of smokers and nonsmokers have different etiology, then they may also have observable differences in clinical presentation and characteristics at diagnosis.

  To test this hypothesis, the researchers studied 6000 patients with Tis-T4, N0-N3 breast cancers who presented to a cancer center at initial diagnosis between 1970 and 2006.

  The patients were divided into those with any history of tobacco use (45%) and those who had never used tobacco (55%). The researchers then evaluated the association of smoking with clinical, pathologic and treatment-related factors at cancer presentation.

  Overall, the median age at breast cancer diagnosis was 55 years. For nonsmokers it was 56 years, and for patients with any smoking history it was 55 years. In a subgroup of patients who were current smokers (n=511), the median age at diagnosis was 52 years. This was significantly younger than the nonsmokers.

  Freedman and team found that White patients with a history of smoking were 20% more likely to be younger than 55 years at diagnosis than nonsmokers. Furthermore, current smokers were 67% more likely than nonsmokers to be younger than 55 years at diagnosis. But this association was not observed in Black patients.

  There was no statistically significant association between smoking and T stage, N stage, hormone receptor status, or human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 status, but smokers were less likely to utilize breast-conserving treatment than nonsmokers.

  Freedman and co-authors conclude in The Breast Journal that "further efforts to clarify potential reasons for any racial differences and lower utilization of breast conservation with smoking are warranted."

  Source: MedWire news, 19 July 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/aERFyq

• Singapore, New tobacco, substitute products to be banned

  New tobacco and tobacco substitute products - including oral tobacco, "tobacco candies" that dissolve in the mouth, and fruit-flavoured cigarettes will be banned.
  
  They are falsely marketed as safer alternatives to cigarettes, and may lead to young people becoming hooked, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said.
  
  More young people here are taking up smoking, he added. The ban is in line with those imposed in several countries, including Australia and Canada.
  
  Under the new Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, tobacco companies can also no longer use terms like "mild" or "light" for their products, and can no longer sponsor arts or cultural events.

  Source: Asiaone Health, 20 July 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/dyCaLm

• WTO to rule on U.S. clove cigarette ban-sources

  The World Trade Organisation is to rule on a dispute between Indonesia and the United States over a U.S. ban on clove-flavoured cigarettes.

  Indonesia says the United States is abusing health regulations to shut out clove cigarettes, known as kretek and very popular in the southeast Asian country, while allowing U.S. manufacturers to continue to market menthol cigarettes.

  U.S. officials say that flavoured tobaccos risk attracting young people to smoking, and that the ban applies to clove cigarettes from all countries and so is not discriminatory.

  A meeting of the WTO's dispute settlement body agreed to set up a panel to rule on the dispute, the sources said.

  The U.S. had blocked a previous request for a dispute panel by Indonesia but under WTO rules could not stop it a second time.

  Indonesia told the meeting its clove cigarettes had been shut out of the market since September last year. It said it had been trying to resolve the issue with the United States for several years, and could not wait for U.S. health officials to complete a review of menthol cigarettes, expected by March 2011.

  The United States imported $15.2 million of kretek cigarettes, almost all from Indonesia, in 2008, and the clove sticks accounted for less than 0.1 percent of consumption before the ban, according to Indonesian data, which show menthol cigarettes making up 28 percent of U.S. consumption.

  Foreign tobacco producers have been buying up Indonesian manufacturers to acquire kretek brands and build on the potential for normal or "white stick" sales in the world's fifth biggest tobacco market.

  In June last year, the world's No.2 cigarette maker, British American Tobacco, bought an 85 percent stake in Indonesia's fourth largest cigarette maker by volume, PT Bentoel Internasional Investama (RMBA.JK).

  Philip Morris International acquired the majority of Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna in 2005. Other Indonesian manufacturers include Gudang Garam and unlisted conglomerate Djarum. 

  Source: Reuters News, 20 July 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/cikkop