Economist Group cancer conference cancelled due to links to tobacco firms

Exclusive: Speakers and attendees pull out of Economist Impact event over ties to Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco

A division of the publisher of the Economist has been forced to cancel a high-profile cancer conference at the last minute amid a backlash from speakers and attendees over its association with the tobacco companies behind brands including Marlboro and Benson & Hedges.

Economist Impact, part of the Economist Group, which owns the eponymous weekly business magazine, was due to hold its 10th annual world cancer series in Brussels at the end of the month.