Cigarette company funds cancer study

NEW YORK, March 26 (UPI) -- The parent company of a cigarette maker paid for a U.S. study that said increased use of CT scans can prevent lung cancer deaths.

The 2006 Weill Cornell Medical College study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented by CT scans. A New York Times investigation found that the study was almost entirely underwritten by grants from Vector Group, the parent company of the Liggett Group, maker of Liggett Select, Eve, Grand Prix, Quest and Pyramid cigarettes.

The newspaper said Vector Group spokesman Paul Caminiti confirmed that the company donated $3.6 million to the Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention & Treatment over three years. He said the company "had no control or influence over the research."

Dr. Jeffrey M. Drazen, the NEJM's editor in chief, said the medical journal was not aware of the relationship between the cigarette maker and the research conducted by Weill Cornell's Dr. Claudia Henschke, who is president of the foundation.

Henschke and her collaborator said there was never any attempt to hide the source of the study's funding.