Chronic Pulmonary Diseases linked to increased risk of lung cancer

Often health conditions and diseases are linked to each other. As per a new study, it has been reported by researchers that the risk of developing lung cancer in people having previous cases of common pulmonary diseases in high.

Earlier studies have shown associations between lung cancer and respiratory diseases, but multiple respiratory diseases were considered simultaneously by very few studies, said researcher Ann Olsson, PhD, of the International Agency for Research in Cancer in Lyon, France.

He further said that in the analysis of 7 case-control studies that involved more than 12,500 cases and around 14,900 controls, associations were found between pneumonia, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer with increased risk of lung cancer among subjects with all 3 conditions.

In this analysis, the main focus of researchers on 5 respiratory diseases which were asthma, pneumonia, tuberculosis, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Overall chronic bronchitis and pneumonia were the most common pulmonary diseases that people reported. After taking into account the study center, smoking habits, education level, employment and age into account, it was found that the risk of lung cancer is high in men with emphysema and chronic bronchitis. An inverse relationship was seen between lung cancer risk and asthma.

No relationship was found between people having chronic bronchitis with tuberculosis or asthma and risk of lung cancer. No correlation was seen between risk of lung cancer and tuberculosis. Dr. Olsson said that “The variations in the associations between lung cancer and different patterns of previous respiratory diseases that we observed in our study may indicate differences in the underlying etiological mechanisms,”

If these associations are understood better, it will help in guiding the frequency and type of clinical surveillance that is needed for patients with such diseases.

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Christina Langfold

Remember that weird girl in school who never quite managed to fit in? Who was always silent and strange? That was me during my entire teenage life. A few years after finishing college (with a degree in arts) I decided that the best way to become more sociable, while also feeling safe, is to test my people skills online.