Editing British Doctors Study (section)

==Context==
Although there had been suspicions of a link between smoking and various diseases, the evidence for this link had been largely circumstantial. In fact, smoking had been advertised as "healthy" for many years, and there had been no clear explanation why rates of lung cancer had soared.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Michael J. |date=1994-09-18 |title=Tobacco's Pr Campaign : The Cigarette Papers |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-18-tm-40179-story.html |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

To further investigate the link, the [[Medical Research Council (UK)|Medical Research Council]] (MRC) instructed its ''Statistical Research Unit'' (later the [[Oxford]]-based ''Clinical Trial Service Unit'') to conduct a [[prospective cohort study|prospective]] study into the link. This approach to medical questions was fairly new: in the 1954 "Preliminary report",<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Doll R, Hill AB |title=The mortality of doctors in relation to their smoking habits|year=1954|pmid=15217868|doi=10.1136/bmj.328.7455.1529|journal=BMJ|volume=328|pages=1529–1533|issue=7455|pmc=437141}}</ref> the researchers felt it necessary to offer a definition of the ''prospective'' principle.

The study, when it was published in 1956, heralded a new type of scientific research, showed the relevance of [[epidemiology]] and [[medical statistics]] in questions of [[public health]], and vitally linked tobacco smoking to a number of serious diseases.<ref name="Doll1956">{{cite journal | last =Doll | first =R |author2=Hill AB | title =Lung cancer and other causes of death in relation to smoking; a second report on the mortality of British doctors | journal =British Medical Journal | volume =2 | issue =5001 | pages =1071–1081  |date=November 1956 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.2.5001.1071| pmid =13364389 | pmc =2035864  }}</ref>