Population Distribution of Histological Types of Lung Cancer

Our plain-English summary of Population Distribution of Histological Types of Lung Cancer, by B. Moden (1978).

The study

• Author: B. Moden
• Published: Israel Journal of Medical Sciences, Volume 14 No7. July 1978
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This article combined a nationwide study of lung cancer in Israel with a review of published reports. The author reviewed Israel Cancer Registry records of lung cancer diagnosed in 1968-70. The analysis was limited to the Jewish population because cancer in the Arab population was underreported. Among cases with a definite diagnosis, mean annual incidence was 10.6 per 100,000 men and 3.1 per 100,000 women. The male to female ratio for all cases was 3.1:1, lower than in most similar reports. Squamous cell carcinoma made up 38.1% of definite cases in men, lower than in most other reports. Adenocarcinoma was the most common type in women, and its share of definite cases was higher than expected. Incidence was higher in European-born people of both sexes. The author concluded that the high rate in Israeli women appeared mainly due to adenocarcinoma, and that this deserved further study. The author noted that the tissue slides were not reviewed by a single pathologist. The nationwide registry analysis did not assess asbestos exposure. Asbestos appeared only in the discussion, citing another group's study of workers with asbestosis.

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: Population-based descriptive study of lung cancer incidence by cell type, using national cancer registry and hospital records, combined with a review of the literature
• Who was studied: Jewish patients in Israel with lung cancer diagnosed between 1968 and 1970. Of 1,345 registry records, 311 were disqualified, leaving 1,034 patients according to the tables.
• Exposure: The registry analysis did not assess asbestos or any other occupational exposure. Cases were analyzed by cell type, sex, age and place of birth. Asbestos appears only in the discussion, which cites another group's study of male workers with asbestosis.
• Main results:
  • Mean annual incidence for definite cases only was 10.6 per 100,000 men and 3.1 per 100,000 women. The overall rate for women was 6.8 per 100,000. The overall figure for men is illegible in the scan.
  • The overall male to female ratio was 3.1:1, which the author described as considerably lower than in most similar reports.
  • Squamous cell carcinoma made up 38.1% of definite cases in men, lower than in most other reports.
  • Adenocarcinoma was the most prevalent type in women, and the proportion of women with definite diagnoses who had it was higher than expected. The figure is damaged in the scan: the running text prints '52.79%' and the table of 502 patients with definite diagnoses prints '$2.7'. It is most likely 52.7%, but no clean copy appears.
  • The male to female ratio was 13.5:1 for squamous cell carcinoma, 1.6:1 for adenocarcinoma, 3.5:1 for small cell carcinoma and 4.6:1 for large cell carcinoma.
  • The squamous cell sex ratio was lower in probable cases than in definite cases (4.0:1 vs. 13.5:1).
  • In both sexes, incidence was higher in the European-born group, for both total and definite cases.
  • The proportion of cases with a definite diagnosis decreased in older patients.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the high lung cancer rate in Israeli women appeared mainly due to more adenocarcinoma, and the lower rate in men mainly due to less squamous cell carcinoma. The author called for more uniform diagnostic criteria. The author said the high adenocarcinoma incidence in women, particularly Jewish women in Israel and the USA, presents a challenging lead that might help with prevention.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The tissue slides were not critically reviewed by a single pathologist.
  • The Arab population was excluded because cancer was underreported in that group.
  • Among women, the numbers were too small for a meaningful comparison of cell types by place of birth.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Lung Cancer, Cancer Registry, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Adenocarcinoma, Asbestos Exposure.

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