Obstructive lung disease does not increase lung cancer mortality among female never-smokers in Hong Kong

Chi Chiu Leung, T. H. Lam, W. W. Yew, W. S. Law, C. M. Tam, K. C. Chang, S. McGhee, S. Y. Tam, K. F. Chan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

SETTING: High lung cancer mortality is observed among female never-smokers in Hong Kong. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between obstructive lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and/or asthma) and lung cancer mortality by sex and smoking status. DESIGN: A cohort of elderly clients (aged ≥65 years) in a health maintenance programme were followed prospectively through linkage with the territory-wide death registry for causes of death, using identity card number as the unique identifier. RESULTS: After 516 055 person-years of follow-up, respectively 1297, 872 and 1908 deaths were caused by lung cancer, other tobacco-related malignancies and non-tobacco- related malignancies. In the overall analysis, obstructive lung disease was independently associated with mortality due to lung cancer (aHR 1.86, P < 0.001) after adjustment for potential confounders. However, no association was detected among female never-smokers (HR 0.97, P = 0.909), in sharp contrast with female eversmokers, male never-smokers and male ever-smokers (HR 1.98, 2.34 and 2.09, respectively, P from 0.047 to <0.001). Consistent results were observed after exclusion of all deaths in the initial 3 years. CONCLUSION: Obstructive lung disease exerted differential effects on lung cancer mortality across different sex and smoking subgroups in this Asian population, with a conspicuous absence of effect among female never-smokers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)546-552
Number of pages7
JournalInternational Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
Volume16
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 1 2012
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
  • Infectious Diseases

Keywords

  • Gender
  • Lung cancer
  • Obstructive lung disease
  • Tobacco

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