A six-month study of pulmonary cancer in Albanian women

Our plain-English summary of A six-month study of pulmonary cancer in Albanian women, by J. Nikolla, M. Nanushi, G. Vyshka, et al (ISRN Preventive Medicine, 2013).

The study

• Authors: J. Nikolla, M. Nanushi, G. Vyshka, H. Hafizi
• Journal: ISRN Preventive Medicine
• Published: 2013;2013:824670
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Lung cancer is a potentially lethal disease, whose prevalence in Albania is constantly increasing, especially in women. Early diagnosis is extremely important with regard to life expectancy and quality. The authors conducted a survey on the behaviour in a sample group of Albanian women diagnosed with primary and secondary lung cancers. A discussion upon diagnostic methods, smoking habits, histological type, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), and treatment modalities is made. The data collected by the authors suggest that nonsmokers formed the main group of lung cancer female patients. The most frequent histological type was adenocarcinoma. Mesothelioma was the most frequent of the secondary pulmonary lung cancers, followed from metastasizing breast cancer. Despite a generally good performance of the cases, the diagnosis of pulmonary cancer is delayed. The data collected could not find a convincing etiological role of tobacco smoking, but caution is needed, regarding the short time length of the study and the sustained number of participants.

In plain English

This was a descriptive, retrospective study of 54 women with lung cancer treated at the University Hospital of Pulmonary Diseases in Tirana, Albania, between January and June 2011. The authors divided the cases into primary lung cancer (30 women) and secondary lung cancer (24 women). Of the 24 secondary cases, nine were mesotheliomas and six were breast cancer metastases. The article does not say where the mesotheliomas arose and does not discuss asbestos. Among the 30 primary cancers, 20 were adenocarcinomas. 48 of the 54 women (89%) reported being nonsmokers, a category that included occasional smokers of fewer than two cigarettes a day as well as never-smokers. At diagnosis, 36 of the 54 were at stage IV, although 32 of the 54 had a high Karnofsky performance score. Chemotherapy was the main treatment for 45 of the 54. The authors concluded that the role of second-hand smoking needs serious study. They also concluded that late diagnosis despite good performance status calls for revising preventive and diagnostic practice in primary care. They said the small sample and six-month period limit the study's validity.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: descriptive retrospective study (case series) at a single hospital
• Who was studied: 54 Albanian women diagnosed with primary or secondary lung cancer and treated at the University Hospital of Pulmonary Diseases, Tirana, January to June 2011
• Exposure: Self-reported tobacco smoking. Women were classed as smokers or nonsmokers, and nonsmokers included both never-smokers and occasional smokers (fewer than two cigarettes a day, irregularly). No asbestos or other occupational exposure was assessed.
• Main results:
  • Among all 54 women, 30 had primary lung cancer and 24 had secondary lung cancer. The article prints these as 57% and 43%, which do not match the counts (30 of 54 is about 56%; 24 of 54 is about 44%).
  • Among the 24 secondary lung cancer cases, nine were mesotheliomas and six were breast metastases, the two largest groups.
  • Among the 30 primary lung cancer cases, 20 were adenocarcinomas.
  • Of all 54 women, 48 (89%) self-reported as nonsmokers, a category that included occasional smokers. Six self-reported as smokers, of whom two were heavy smokers.
  • Of all 54 women, 17 (31%) were aged 31 to 40 years.
  • Of all 54 women, 36 were at TNM stage IV at diagnosis (printed as 66%; 36 of 54 is about 67%), while 32 had a high Karnofsky performance score (59%). The authors suggested that the good performance may have delayed diagnosis.
  • Chemotherapy was the main treatment for 45 of the 54 women. Eight were operated on, and half of those also received chemotherapy.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the role of second-hand smoking must be studied seriously, given that most of these women reported being nonsmokers. They also concluded that late-stage diagnosis despite good performance status points to a need to revise preventive and diagnostic procedures in primary care.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors said the small number of patients (54) and the short recruitment period (six months) limit the study's validity.
  • The authors divided patients only into smokers and nonsmokers, without measuring how much they smoked.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer, Life Expectancy, Habit, Performance Status, Adenocarcinoma, Mesothelioma.

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