Tobacco industry influence on breast cancer research, policy and public opinion: scoping the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents
A partir de l'analyse des documents d'archives du "Council for Tobacco Research" et du "Tobacco Institute" (19 719 documents sur la période 1950-1998), cette étude évalue l'influence de l'industrie du tabac dans les politiques de santé, dans l'opinion publique et dans la recherche concernant le cancer du sein
Objective Over the last 35 years, there has been growing evidence suggesting a relationship between tobacco use and breast cancer. The tobacco industry’s role in shaping research, policy and public opinion about the relationship is unknown. This study’s objective is to determine if the tobacco industry-funded Council for Tobacco Research (CTR) Records and the Tobacco Institute (TI) Records, housed in the Truth Tobacco Industry Document Archive, contain documents related to internal research about breast cancer and strategies to influence the science and public opinion about breast cancer causes.
Methods We applied the situational scoping method, in which community advocates and university researchers collaborate, to (1) identify external events considered by CTR or TI as a threat or opportunity to business interests; (2) select events for further analysis and (3) conduct social worlds/arenas mapping of industry responses to selected events.
Results The CTR and TI Records contained 19 719 documents with the search term ‘breast cancer’ ranging from the 1950s to 1998. We analysed nine events relevant to the aim of this research. CTR and TI responded to external threats, pointing out methodological problems in studies they perceived as threatening, or characterising lung cancer as misdiagnosed or metastasised breast cancer. They responded to external opportunities with promoting and funding research focusing on smoking’s ‘protective effects’ over breast cancer, and breast cancer’s genetic, hormonal and dietary causes.
Conclusion The CTR and TI Records are a rich source of documents related to tobacco industry efforts to influence breast cancer research, policy and public opinion away from any aetiologic relationship between tobacco use and breast cancer.
Tobacco Control , résumé 2025