Smokeless tobacco 'snus' linked to pancreatic cancer

"New research has shown that users of Swedish 'snus' - an oral, smokeless tobacco - are twice as likely to contract pancreatic cancer as people who have never smoked.

The findings come from an article published in the medical journal the Lancet.

The study, by researchers at the Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, looked at around 280,000 Swedish construction workers who were surveyed on tobacco consumption habits from 1978 to 1992, and then followed up until 2004.

The researchers found no increased risk of lung or oral cancer in snus users compared to those who had never smoked, but did find that snus users were around twice as likely to contract pancreatic cancer than those who had never smoked.

However, smokers were still more likely to contract pancreatic cancer than snus users. "