HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 34/2/380    most recent 09031936.00144208v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Young, R. P. Articles by Gamble, G. D. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Young, R. P. Articles by Gamble, G. D.

COPD prevalence is increased in lung cancer, independent of age, sex and smoking history

¹ Depts of Medicine, ³ Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, and ⁴ Statistics, University of Auckland, and ² Dept of Respiratory Services, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.

CORRESPONDENCE: R. P. Young, Dept of Medicine, Auckland Hospital, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. E-mail: roberty{at}adhb.govt.nz

Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, epidemiology, lung cancer, risk, spirometry

Received: September 21, 2008
Accepted January 10, 2009

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common comorbid disease in lung cancer, estimated to affect 40–70% of lung cancer patients, depending on diagnostic criteria. As smoking exposure is found in 85–90% of those diagnosed with either COPD or lung cancer, coexisting disease could merely reflect a shared smoking exposure. Potential confounding by age, sex and pack-yr smoking history, and/or by the possible effects of lung cancer on spirometry, may result in over-diagnosis of COPD prevalence.

In the present study, the prevalence of COPD (pre-bronchodilator Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 2+ criteria) in patients diagnosed with lung cancer was 50% compared with 8% in a randomly recruited community control group, matched for age, sex and pack-yr smoking exposure (n = 602, odds ratio 11.6; p<0.0001).

In a subgroup analysis of those with lung cancer and lung function measured prior to the diagnosis of lung cancer (n = 127), we found a nonsignificant increase in COPD prevalence following diagnosis (56–61%; p = 0.45). After controlling for important variables, the prevalence of COPD in newly diagnosed lung cancer cases was six-fold greater than in matched smokers; this is much greater than previously reported.

We conclude that COPD is both a common and important independent risk factor for lung cancer.