We thank Dr. O'Driscoll for alerting us to an error in the text. The correct figure for the worldwide mortality from lung cancer in 2000 was 0.85 million, not 328 million as originally stated in the article.

Dear Editor,

Wassawa-Kintu and colleagues have performed a useful meta-analysis of the effect of reduced FEV1 on the risk of developing lung cancer. However, the authors, reviewers and editors failed to notice a major error of fact which is repeated in the "Airwaves" section of the journal. They stated in both articles that 328 million people died of lung cancer in 2000.

The population of the world is about 6000 million people. If average life expectancy is about 45 years, there would be only 133 million deaths in the world from all causes in a single year! The correct figure from the reference quoted is 0.85 million deaths from lung cancer in 2000.

Yours sincerely,

Dr B. Ronan O'Driscoll

Reference

1. Ezzati M, Lopez AD. Estimates of global mortality attributable to smoking in 2000. Lancet. 2003; 362:847-52.