The AACR Tobacco and Cancer Subcommittee was convened in 2009 to foster scientific and policy initiatives to reduce the incidence of disease and mortality due to tobacco use.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of premature mortality, killing more than five million people worldwide every year. It has a particularly profound impact on cancer incidence and mortality. Indeed, tobacco use is causally associated with 18 different cancers, including lung, head and neck, stomach, pancreas and cervical cancers, and alone tobacco accounts for 30 percent of all cancer deaths.

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THE SCIENCE BEHIND TOBACCO CONTROL

How Research Informs Policy to Save Lives and Money

On June 12, the AACR sponsored a congressional briefing to highlight the evidence that underpins successful interventions in both preventing the initiation of tobacco use and helping those who are addicted to quit.

Dr. Roy Herbst, chair of the AACR Tobacco and Cancer Subcommittee, welcomes Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a staunch tobacco control advocate

Learn more about this event

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 NEWS:

2013

• AACR Urges Senate not to Exempt Cigars from FDA Regulation (April 25, 2013)

• AACR Urges House not to Exempt Cigars from FDA Regulation (April 24, 2013)

• PRESS RELEASE: AACR Releases Policy Guidance on Tobacco and Cancer Clinical Trials (AACR, April 9, 2013)

 

2012

• Federal Court Upholds Ruling Against Graphic Health Warning Labels on Cigarette Packages—AACR Calls for Appeal (AACR, September 2012)
• Cancer Trials Fail to Track Tobacco Use (AACR, Cancer Discovery, August 2012)

• AACR Statement on Proposition 29, The California Cancer Research Act (AACR, May 29, 2012)

• Evidence Shows it is Never Too Late for Cancer Patients to Quit Tobacco (AACR Cancer Policy Monitor, May 2012)

• Slides and Video Now Available from 2012 Annual Meeting Science Policy Session: Challenging Conventional Cancer Care: The Untold Story of Tobacco's Effect on Cancer Biology, Treatment Response and Survival (AACR, April 2012)

• AACR Praises New HHS Tobacco Education Campaign (AACR, March 15, 2012)

2011

• Ruling Blocking Graphic Cigarette Health Warnings Presents Major Setback for Public Health (AACR, Nov. 9, 2011)

• AACR Praises New Cigarette Health Warnings as Significant Step Forward; Urges Continued Research to Reduce Tobacco Use (AACR, June 21, 2011)

• Attempts to Weaken FDA Tobacco Regulation Raise Alarm (AACR Cancer Policy Monitor, June 2011)
  

• AACR Draws Congressional Attention to Tobacco Research, Control (AACR Cancer Policy Monitor, April 2011)

• Surgeon General, AACR Leaders Urge Increased Investment in Research to Tackle America’s Tobacco Epidemic (AACR, March 4, 2011)

2010

• New Surgeon General Report on Smoking and Disease Caps Successful Year of Federal Anti-Tobacco Action, AACR Says (AACR, Dec. 9, 2010)

• AACR Applauds Cancer Objectives in Healthy People 2020, Underscores Importance of Federal Funding for Research (AACR, Dec. 3, 2010)

• AACR Praises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its Tobacco Prevention Efforts (AACR, Nov. 10, 2010)

• AACR Recognizes One-year Anniversary of Tobacco Law and the Additional Provisions Taking Effect Today; Calls for More Research to Combat Tobacco Epidemic (AACR, June 22, 2010)

• AACR Releases New Policy Statement on Tobacco and Cancer and Addresses Congressional Panel on Smokeless Tobacco (AACR, April 13, 2010)

• AACR Releases New Statement on Tobacco & Cancer (AACR Cancer Policy Monitor, April 2010)

2009

• AACR Task Force Weighs in on FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products (AACR Cancer Policy Monitor, Oct. 2009)

 

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DOCUMENTS:

 

• Assessing Tobacco Use by Cancer Patients and Facilitating Cessation: An American Association for Cancer Research Policy Statement (April 9, 2013)

• Comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Cigarette Labeling (January 11, 2011)
  

• Tobacco and Cancer: An American Association for Cancer Research Policy Statement (April 2010)

• Comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the Implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Sept. 29, 2009)

CO-SIGNED LETTERS:

• Citizen Petition to the FDA Requesting Ban of Menthol Flavoring in Tobacco (April 12, 2013)
  

• Comments on Smokeless Warning Labels (April 1, 2013)

• Letter to Senate Regarding Cigar Exemption (February 15, 2013)

• Comments on Guidance for Industry on Modified Risk (June 4, 2012)

• Comments on Guidance Regarding Testing for Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (June 4, 2012)

• Letter to Congress Opposing Exclusion of Cigars from FDA Oversight (May 23, 2012)

• Letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk Regarding Trans-Pacific Partnership (May 22, 2012)

SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS: 

Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., Chairperson
Yale Cancer Center
New Haven, Conn.

Los Angeles, Calif.

Thomas H. Brandon, Ph.D.
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Tampa, Fla.

Denver, Colo.

Geoffrey T. Fong, Ph.D.
University of Waterloo
Ontario, Canada

Pittsburgh, Penn.

Ellen R. Gritz, Ph.D.
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Tex.

Houston, Tex.

Atlanta, Ga.

Scott J. Leischow, Ph.D.
The University of Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.

Peter G. Shields, M.D.

Georgetown University Medical Center
Washington, D.C.

New Haven, Conn.

Kasisomayajula (Vish) Viswanath, Ph.D.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, Mass.

Buffalo, NY

Rockville, Md.

 

Staff contact:

Mark Fleury, Ph.D., PE
Associate Director of Science Policy

AACR Office of Science Policy and Government Affairs
(202) 898-6499

 

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