Lung cancer incidence in patients with schizophrenia: meta-analysis

Lung cancer risk factors, like tobacco smoking, are highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenia. Whether these patients have a higher risk of lung cancer remains unknown.

We aimed to investigate whether patients with schizophrenia have a higher incidence of lung cancer compared with general population, in a meta-analysis.

Eligible studies were searched from PubMed and EMBASE databases to identify cases of lung cancer in patients with schizophrenia and the general population. This meta-analysis utilised the random-effects model and prediction interval was used to calculate the heterogeneity of these eligible studies. We assessed the quality of evidence with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

There were 12 studies, totalling 496 265 patients, included in this meta-analysis. The data showed that the baseline schizophrenia diagnosis was not associated with any changes in lung cancer incidence in the overall population, with a standardised incidence ratio of 1.11 (95% CI 0.90-1.37; P = 0.31), although there was a significant heterogeneity among these studies (I2 = 94%). Moreover, there was also a substantial between-study variance with wide prediction interval values (0.47-2.64). The data were consistent for both males and females.

Up-to-date evidence from epidemiological studies indicates the lack of certainty about the association between schizophrenia diagnosis and lung cancer incidence.