London ? Low-tar cigarettes do not carry a lower risk of lung cancer, according to the first study comparing lung cancer deaths among smokers of ultralight, mild and medium filtered cigarettes.

The finding, published this week in the British Medical Journal, proves what experts long suspected.

Previous research has found smokers of “lighter” cigarettes compensate by taking deeper drags, holding the smoke longer and smoking more cigarettes. Scientists suspected they would probably be just as vulnerable to disease as those who smoke harsher varieties.

“It’s not surprising, but it’s very important,” said Stan Glantz, professor at University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the research. “It’s always important to demonstrate whether a theoretical prediction is right or wrong.”

Tobacco industry representatives said manufacturers never claimed light or mild cigarettes were safer, and didn’t dispute the study’s findings.

The study, conducted by scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the American Cancer Society, examined the link between the tar rating of the cigarette smoked in 1982 and deaths from lung cancer in the subsequent six years among 940,774 Americans over the age of 30 who were smokers, former smokers or had never smoked.

Those who smoked strong nonfiltered cigarettes had a higher risk of lung cancer than those who smoked conventional filtered cigarettes.

However, the study found no difference in the lung cancer death rate among those who smoked the medium filtered cigarettes and those who used mild or ultralight varieties.