Abstract
Background: Pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma (P-ADC) represents a distinct subset of lung cancer with specific clinical, radiological, and pathological features. Given the weak association with tobacco-smoking and the striking similarities with JSRV-induced ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma, it has often been suggested that a viral agent infecting pulmonary cells may predispose to P-ADC in humans.
Aims and objectives: Our objective was to explore whether exposure to domestic ungulates may represent a risk factor for P-ADC.
Methods: We performed an exploratory multicenter case-control study recruiting patients with P-ADC as cases and patients with non-P-ADC non-bronchioloalveolar non-small cell lung cancer as controls. A dedicated 356-item questionnaire was built to evaluate domestic ungulates exposure. A total of 44 cases and 132 controls were included.
Results: At multivariate analysis, P-ADC was significantly associated with female gender (Odds-ratio (OR)=3.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.32-7.87, p=0.010), never- smoker status (OR=3.57, 95% CI: 1.27-10.00, p = 0.015), personal history of any cancer (OR=3.43, 95% CI: 1.10-10.72, p = 0.034), and professional exposure to goats (OR=5.09, 95% CI: 1.05-24.69, p = 0.043).
Conclusions: This exploratory case-control suggests a link between professional exposure to goats and P-ADC, and prompts for further epidemiological evaluation of potential environmental risk factors for P-ADC.
- © 2011 ERS