Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a systemic risk factor for cancer: a nationwide cohort study in Korea

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasingly recognised as a systemic condition with extrapulmonary comorbidities including malignancy. While the association between COPD and lung cancer is well established, evidence for extrapulmonary cancers, particularly after accounting for lifestyle, demographic and socioeconomic factors, remains limited.

We conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study using the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort (2002-2019). After exclusions and propensity score overlap weighting, 532 174 patients with COPD and 1 891 601 matched controls were included. COPD and exacerbations were defined using International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes and treatment records. Cox proportional hazards models and E-value analyses were used to estimate associations and assess the potential impact of unmeasured confounding.

During up to 16 years of follow-up, COPD was associated with a 52% higher overall cancer risk (HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.50 to 1.53), independent of demographic, lifestyle and clinical factors. Increased risks were observed for 11 of 14 site-specific cancers, with the strongest associations for lung (HR 3.68), bladder (HR 1.58), haematological (HR 1.45) and kidney cancers (HR 1.43). COPD exacerbations were also associated with increased overall cancer risk (HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.46 to 1.50), with broadly similar patterns across site-specific cancers. Associations were consistent across sex, age and smoking strata and were unlikely to be explained by unmeasured confounding based on E-value analyses.

COPD and exacerbations were associated with increased risks of overall and multiple site-specific cancers beyond the lungs. These findings support the systemic nature of COPD.