Predictors of Lung Cancer: Noteworthy Cell Type Differences

Lung cancer health disparities

“…The incidence of small cell carcinoma tends to be lower in AA. While these differences are not always statistically significant (2), the trend is opposite to what is seen for other histological subtypes.…”

“…While smoking is the main etiological factor associated with lung cancer, others such as alcohol consumption, body mass index, geography, radon, pollution and alternative/unidentified environmental exposures, could also contribute. Work by Tran and colleagues using the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Cohort of 130 000 individuals (including ~35 000 AAs) found that while drinking more than three glasses of alcohol a day was associated with increased risk of lung cancer in EAs, it was not associated with increased risk in AAs (2). Increasing body mass index is associated with risk of many cancers, but it is inversely associated with lung cancer risk, something that is possibly due to reverse causality and the occurrence of weight loss among individuals with preclinical or undiagnosed lung cancer.…”

“…The age-adjusted lung cancer incidence rate in AAs and EAs varies by histology. The disparity holds for adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell, though to differing degrees: In a cohort study of over 126 000 individuals in the Kaiser Permanente Medical Program in California, Tran and colleagues found that AAs had a 30% increased hazard of adenocarcinoma diagnosis, and a 70% increased hazard of squamous cell carcinoma diagnosis compared with EAs (2). The incidence of small cell carcinoma tends to be lower in AA.…”

Smoking Is the Most Significant Modifiable Lung Cancer Risk Factor in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

“…In the general population, small cell and squamous cell carcinomas are nearly always associated with smoking 10 . Squamous cell carcinoma rates have been declining in males but gradually increasing in females, possibly related to the increasing number of females that smoked after the 1950’s 11 .…”