Background and ObjectiveGrowing evidence added to the results from observational studies of lung cancer patients exhibiting eosinophilia. However, whether eosinophils contributed to tumor immune surveillance or neoplastic evolution was unknown. This study aimed to analyze the causal association between eosinophilia and lung cancer.MethodsThe causal effect of eosinophil count on lung cancer from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was investigated using the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method. Secondary results according to different histological subtypes of lung cancer were also implemented. Meanwhile, we compared the measured levels of blood eosinophil counts among different subtypes of lung cancer from real-world data.ResultsThe median absolute eosinophilic count (unit: 109/L) [median (min, max): Lung adenocarcinoma 0.7 (0.5, 15); Squamous cell lung cancer 0.7 (0.5, 1.3); Small cell lung cancer 0.7 (0.6, 1.3); p = 0.96] and the median eosinophil to leukocyte ratio [median (min, max): Lung adenocarcinoma 8.7% (2.1, 42.2%); Squamous cell lung cancer 9.3% (4.1, 17.7%); Small cell lung cancer 8.9% (5.1, 24.1%); p = 0.91] were similar among different histological subtypes of lung cancer. MR methods indicated that eosinophilia may provide 28% higher risk for squamous cell lung cancer in East Asian [Weighted median method: odds ratio (OR) = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.04–1.57, p = 0.02].ConclusionOur study suggested that eosinophilia may be a potential causal risk factor in the progression of squamous cell lung cancer in East Asian.

Background: Patients with incidental eosinophilia is becoming increasingly common in clinical practice. But it remains challenging to diagnose and treat owing to its complex etiology. The awareness of physicians and the strategies of diagnosis and treatment toward eosinophilia are still unclear. Objective: We aimed to evaluate attention, diagnosis, treatment, and awareness of eosinophilia among physicians, as well as factors influencing clinical practice, and to find ways to improve the efficacy of this disease. Design: This is a cross-sectional survey. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 to 4 June 2021 in a tertiary hospital. Self-administered and validated electronic questionnaire was used to investigate the attention toward eosinophilia, the strategies of diagnosis and treatment, and the awareness in physicians. Results: A total of 607 valid questionnaires were collected, with a response rate of 84.5%. Among the responders, 65.4% of physicians claimed to be familiar with patients with eosinophilia but only 11.0% of them had read the relevant guidelines or expert consensus. Among 207 physicians who had ever diagnosed patients with eosinophilia, only 19.4% had performed detailed examinations. The accuracy of awareness questions was 1.6–53.5%, and only 26.5% of physicians had high levels of awareness. An increase in the awareness level of up to 2.82 folds was seen among physicians with factors such as job title, encountering patients with eosinophilia, linking patients’ conditions to peripheral blood eosinophil count, and paying attention to guidelines. Conclusion: This study highlighted the importance of raising awareness and knowledge of eosinophilia among physicians in China. More works on education about eosinophilia guideline are needed, which may help physicians make decision with more benefits to patients.

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