Tobacco and Cancer: An American Association for Cancer Research Policy Statement

The evidence against tobacco use is clear, incontrovertible, and convincing; so is the need for urgent and immediate action to stem the global tide of tobacco-related death and suffering and to improve public health. The American Association for Cancer Research makes an unequivocal call to all who are concerned about public health to take the following immediate steps:Increase the investment in tobacco-related research, commensurate with the enormous toll that tobacco use takes on human health, to provide the scientific evidence to drive the development of effective policies and treatments necessary to dramatically reduce tobacco use and attendant disease. Develop new evidence-based strategies to more effectively prevent the initiation of tobacco use, especially for youth and young adults. Promote the further development of evidence-based treatments for tobacco cessation, including individualized therapies, and ensure coverage of and access to evidence-based behavioral and pharmacological treatments. Develop evidence-based strategies for more effective public communication to prevent, reduce, and eliminate tobacco use and to guide health policies and clinical practice. Develop effective, evidence-based policies to reduce disparities across the tobacco continuum among social groups and developed and developing nations. Implement to the fullest extent existing evidence-based, systems-wide tobacco control programs to prevent initiation and foster cessation. Adapt and implement appropriate approaches to reduce the growing burden of tobacco use in the developing world. Enhance and coordinate surveillance efforts, both in the United States and globally, to monitor tobacco products, tobacco use, and tobacco-related disease, including tobacco use in oncology clinical trials. Establish a comprehensive, science-based regulatory framework to evaluate tobacco products and manufacturers' claims. Promote research that addresses the following: the potential harms of current and new tobacco products; the impact of altering the levels of addictive components in tobacco products; the identification of risk and risk-reduction measures for current and former tobacco users; enhanced early detection methods for tobacco-related cancers; and effective treatments against tobacco-related cancers tailored to the unique effects of tobacco on cancer. Pursue domestic and international economic policies that support tobacco control. Urge the United States to ratify the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Foster global scientific efforts to support the Framework. Work together with stakeholders worldwide, including federal agencies, to develop and implement effective tobacco control strategies and to deter counter-tobacco control efforts by the tobacco industry. Only such concerted global actions by scientists, policymakers, and advocates together can prevent the invidious impact of tobacco, the use of which is cutting wide swathes of death and disease around the world.