Washington, July 29 - Smokeless tobacco products, as used in Europe and North America, do not seem to increase cancer risk, according to the latest research.

A comprehensive analysis has shown that snuff as used in Scandinavia has no discernible effect on the risk of various cancers.

Products used in the past in the US may have increased the risk, but any effect that exists now seems likely to be quite small.

Peter Lee and Jan Hamling, from PN Lee Statistics and Computing Ltd of Britain, carried out the analysis of 89 studies from the US and Scandinavia.

They found that, after adjustment for concurrent smoking, any effect of current US products or Scandinavian snuff seems very limited.

According to Lee: 'It is clear that any effect of smokeless tobacco on risk of cancer, if it exists at all, is quantitatively very much smaller than the known effects of smoking.