Why was the ATBC Study conducted in Finland?
The study was conducted in Finland because of the high lung cancer rates in men in that country, which are due primarily to cigarette smoking. Furthermore, Finland had a clinic system for the screening and treatment of lung diseases (mainly tuberculosis) through which the recruited population of smokers could participate in the study. Finland also has a national cancer registry, which keeps track of all the cancer cases identified in that country, a vital measurement for the large trial. 5. Why was the trial conducted only in men? Finnish women were not included in the study because their rate of lung cancer was substantially lower than the rate for Finnish men. In 1985, the annual age-adjusted lung cancer rate for Finnish men was 67 cases per 100,000 men and for women was eight cases per 100,000 women. 6. Are the ATBC Study results applicable to Americans? As a whole, the white men of Finland are similar to white men in the United States, and live similar Western lifestyles. However,
