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. 2020 Sep-Oct;34(5):2711-2719.
doi: 10.21873/invivo.12092.

Lung Cancer: A Nationwide Study to Characterize Sex Differences, Incidence, and Spatial Patterns in Portugal

Teresa Guerreiro  1 , Luis Antunes  2   3 , Joana Bastos  4 , Alexandra Mayer  5 , Goncalo Forjaz  6   7 , AntÓnio Araujo  8   9 , Carla Nunes  10   11
Affiliations

Lung Cancer: A Nationwide Study to Characterize Sex Differences, Incidence, and Spatial Patterns in Portugal

Teresa Guerreiro et al. In Vivo. 2020 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Background/aim: This study characterized lung cancer (LC) in Portugal, to capture sex differences, regional variation, and spatial distribution.

Patients and methods: Variables: age, sex, vital status, region of residence, degree of urbanization, histologic types and stage at diagnosis. Spatial analyses conducted to identify high (HIC) and low incidence (LIC) clusters.

Results: In total, 11,642 cases were diagnosed (76.6% male, 23.4% female), with a similar mean age at diagnosis. There were 23,6% locally advanced and 58.4% metastatic disease cases, with 13.4% alive five years after diagnosis. Non-small-cell LC accounted for 77.3% of which 40.8% was adenocarcinoma and 22.7% was squamous cell carcinoma. Standardized incident rate (IR) was 37.5/105, 65.2/105 in males, and 15.7/105 in females, with four HIC (urban) clusters and four LIC (non-urban).

Conclusion: This study highlighted the sex differences in incidence, mortality, histology, and geographic distribution of LC in Portugal. Considering the advanced stages and the poor overall survival, understanding sex and geographic differences is important for public health interventions.

Keywords: Lung cancer; Portugal; incidence; sex differences; spatial cluster analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Teresa Guerreiro is an employee of Novartis Farma Portugal. This study was prepared in the context of the first author’s PhD thesis, a personal project. There was no interference from the employer in the research project and resulting publications. Luís Antunes, Joana Bastos, Alexandra Mayer, Gonçalo Forjaz, António Araújo and Carla Nunes declare no conflicts of interest related to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Geographic distribution of high and low incidence clusters in mainland Portugal from 2009-2011.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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