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This paper is dedicated to the memory of Olav Axelson (1937-2004), who
published the first study on radon in homes and lung cancer in the
Scandi-
navian Journal of Work, Environment and Health
in 1979. We thank the staff
and participants in the collaborating studies. Richard Peto and Jon Miles
provided helpful discussions during preparation of this paper, Gary Whit-
lock commented on a draft version, and Tom Fearn and David Cox
provided helpful comments on the statistical methods.
Contributors: All authors were responsible for the design of this collabora-
tion. The data for the component studies were the responsibilities of WO,
LK, ASR, MK, HEW (Austria); .
Czech Republic:
LT (Czech Republic); AA, IM,
MH (Finland nationwide); ER, IM, MH (Finland south); HB, MT (France);
MK, ASR, IH, LK, HEW (Germany eastern); LK, MK, HEW (Germany west-
ern); FB, FF (Italy); GP, FL, RF (Sweden nationwide); FL, GP, RF (Sweden
never smokers); GP (Sweden Stockholm); JMB-D, AR-R (Spain); SD, HD,
DH, EW, RD (United Kingdom). CM coordinated the European
Commission grant. DH, HD, EW, and SD collated the data for all studies in
Oxford. The analysis was conducted and the report prepared by SD, DH,
and RD with input from all other authors. SD, DH, and RD are guarantors.
Funding: Cancer Research UK (grants to Clinical Trial Service Unit and
Cancer Epidemiology Unit) and the European Commission (contract
FIGH-CT1999-00008). The funding sources had no role in study design,
data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, the writing of the report,
or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Competing interests: None declared.
Ethical approval: Appropriate ethical committee approval was obtained for
each study.
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(Accepted 2 November 2004)
doi 10.1136/bmj.38308.477650.63
Clinical Trials Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, Radcliffe Infirmary,
Oxford OX2 6HE
S Darby
professor of medical statistics
D Hill
statistician
R Doll
emeritus professor of medicine
School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
A Auvinen
professor of epidemiology
Area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de
Compostela, Spain
J M Barros-Dios
professor of epidemiology
A Ruano-Ravina
professor of epidemiology
Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Direction de la Radioprotection
de l’Homme, Service de Radiobiologie et d’Epidémiologie, Fontenay-aux-Roses
Cedex, France
H Baysson
statistician
M Tirmarche
epidemiologist
Unit of Radioactivity and its Health Effects, Department of Technology and
Health, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
F Bochicchio
senior researcher
Department of Applied Statistics, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AL
H Deo
statistician
Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, SE-171 16, Stockholm, Sweden
R Falk
principal scientist
Department of Epidemiology, Rome E Health Authority, Rome, Italy
F Forastiere
professor of epidemiology
Finnish Cancer Registry, Helsinki, Finland
M Hakama
professor of epidemiology
Institute of Epidemiology, GSF Research Centre for Environment and Health,
Neuherberg, Germany
I Heid
statistician
A Schaffrath Rosario
statistician
H-E Wichmann
professor of epidemiology
Institute of Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of
Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany
L Kreienbrock
professor of statistics
Department of Radiation Protection and Health, Federal Office for Radiation
Protection, Neuherberg, Germany
M Kreuzer
epidemiologist
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, S-171 77, Stockholm,
Sweden
F Lagarde
statistician
G Pershagen
professor of environmental medicine
STUK-Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki, Finland
I Mäkeläinen
health physicist
E Ruosteenoja
scientist
National Radiological Protection Board, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0RQ
C Muirhead
statistician
Tumorregister Tirol, Innsbruck, Austria
W Oberaigner
epidemiologist
Epidemiology Unit, National Radiation Protection Institute, Prague, Czech
Republic
L Tomá
B
ek
statistician
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PR
E Whitley
visiting lecturer in medical statistics
Correspondence to: S Darby sarah.darby@ctsu.ox.ac.uk
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