Lung cancer in nonsmokers- A risk factor analysis

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Oncology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Lung cancer screening effectively saves lives in high-risk smokers.
• A significant portion of lung cancer diagnoses occur in never-smokers, often at later stages.
• Current screening criteria may exclude never-smokers, potentially delaying diagnosis and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize never-smoker lung cancer patients.
• To identify risk factors in never-smokers that may warrant inclusion in lung cancer screening protocols.
• To improve early detection and outcomes for never-smoker lung cancer patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective single-center study of never-smoker patients with lung nodules or cancer (2016-2022).
• Data extracted from electronic medical records, including demographics, comorbidities, and exposures.
• Analysis focused on identifying factors associated with lung cancer diagnosis in never-smokers.

Main Results:

• Older age at nodule diagnosis and comorbidities like COPD and family history of lung cancer were significantly associated with lung cancer.
• Female never-smokers had a higher percentage of lung cancer diagnoses compared to males.
• Hypertension was found to be protective, and diabetes mellitus showed no significant association.

Conclusions:

• Older never-smokers with COPD or a family history of lung cancer have an elevated risk.
• These identified risk factors may inform expanded lung cancer screening guidelines for never-smokers.
• Gender did not significantly impact lung cancer risk in this never-smoker cohort.