
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 11, 1994                   TAG: 9404110095
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: associated press
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO                                LENGTH: Short

STUDY: SMOKING MAY BE RISKIER FOR BLACKS

Blacks may be biologically more likely than whites to develop lung cancer from smoking, according to a study released Sunday at a cancer conference.

The results are particularly relevant because cigarette manufacturers have been accused of aggressively targeting blacks in their marketing campaigns, said John Richie of the American Health Foundation, which conducted the study. The Tobacco Institute has denied targeting any one segment of the American population.

Black smokers have long been shown to have a 50 percent higher incidence of lung cancer and death from the disease. But researchers were uncertain if the causes were behavioral, dietary or biological.

Richie said a difference in metabolism may be responsible.

"Our initial data seem to indicate that blacks have a poorer capacity than whites to detoxify NNK, one of the most important tobacco-related carcinogens linked to lung cancer," he said Sunday at the American Association for Cancer Research. - Associated Press

by CNB