Simple test helps to predict lung cancer risk

Media Release
The University of Auckland
23 March 2009

Simple test helps to predict lung cancer risk

A simple lung function test could help to identify people at increased risk of lung cancer according to research from The University of Auckland and Auckland City Hospital

The study, published online in the European Respiratory Journal, showed that smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, also known as smoker’s lung or emphysema) were six times more likely to get lung cancer than smokers without COPD.

The relationship between the two diseases, which is much closer than previously thought, means that routine testing for COPD could help to identify smokers at increased risk of lung cancer and who would benefit most from quitting smoking.

“By identifying smokers with reduced lung function (or COPD), people at greater risk of lung cancer can be identified at a time when quitting smoking can still significantly reduce their risk,” says lead researcher Associate Professor Robert Young from The University of Auckland.

The research team believes that spirometry – a simple breathing test – should be routinely available through GPs to screen smokers for COPD. For people who smoke, being given a diagnosis of COPD, and knowing they have a significantly increased risk of lung cancer, are two things that can help them to quit.

More than half of all New Zealand smokers with COPD and with an increased likelihood of lung cancer have never had a spirometry test and so are unaware of their elevated risk. “This is not really acceptable, as nearly all patients with lung cancer express feelings of guilt or regret that they smoked and wished they had given up sooner,” says Dr Young.

The close link between COPD and lung cancer in the Auckland study, combined with results from other research, hints that some people have a genetic predisposition to both diseases.

“The relationship strongly suggests that there are overlapping risk factors which, apart from smoking, predispose smokers to both COPD and lung cancer,” says Dr Young. It is possible that further research into these factors may eventually lead to the development of more effective preventive strategies.

Notes

Smoking in New Zealand

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in New Zealand, with lung cancer being the most common cause of cancer death in males and the second most common cause of cancer death in females. www.cancernz.org.nz/HealthPromotion/TobaccoControl/SmokingStatistics

Spirometry

Spirometry is a straightforward test that involves blowing into a sensor to assess impairment of lung function, caused by narrowing of the airways. www.asthmanz.conz/what_is_spirometry.php

People who want a spirometry test should contact their GP.

Research

This study was funded in part by a grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

An article about the research is currently ‘in press’ in the European Respiratory Journal. Articles in press are made available online before being published in print, to allow the scientific community to read about the latest advances at the earliest possible time. erj.ersjournals.com/pap.dtl

ENDS

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