[Lung cancer: how does it appear in our hospital?]

Lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed tumor in industrialized countries and that which causes the largest number of deaths. The aim of this study is to know the relevant clinical and epidemiological characteristics of lung cancer in the Health Care Area of Salamanca.

A cross-sectional descriptive epidemiological study conducted in 140 patients, in the Rapid Diagnosis of Lung Cancer Pneumology Department of the University Hospital of Salamanca.

The percentage of men diagnosed is greater than for to women: 126 (90%) were men and 14 (10%) women. Ninety percent had had an active contact with the tobacco. The percentage of men who were ex-smokers is greater than that of those who smoke, there being a rate of packages per year in both groups at the time of diagnosis. Women continue to be mostly non-smokers, although there is a progressive increase of active smokers. The most frequent clinical manifestation on diagnosis is chest pain (36.4%), 46.4% of the patients having symptoms of the constitutional syndrome. The most frequent histological type among men is squamous cell carcinoma (35.7%), and among women adenocarcinoma (50%), the significant relationship (p < 0.05) between the histological stain and the principal risk factor, that is tobacco, standing out.

The known tobacco-lung cancer relationship, corroborated in this study, makes it necessary to have a more effective fight against tobacco to reduce the incidence of lung cancer. It is also necessary to develop multidisciplinary protocols that help early diagnosis and make it possible to increase the percentage of curative treatments.