Lung cancer cases linked to air quality
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E-mail Chian Daily, February 27, 2014
A type of lung cancer reported to be increasing in Beijing has been linked to worsening air quality, with an expert warning that the potential health impact could be much greater than the SARS epidemic in 2003.
"The proportion of lung adenocarcinoma cases is increasing," said Wang Ning, deputy director of the Beijing Office for Cancer Prevention and Control, adding that there has been a drop in the proportion of squamous cell lung cancer cases in the capital.
Adenocarcinoma of the lung is a common histological form of lung cancer that contains certain distinct malignant tissue, while the other type is a form of non-small-cell lung cancer.
Medical experts believe that smoking is more likely to cause squamous cell lung cancer, while exposure to air pollution, such as exhaust gases and secondhand smoking, is more likely to cause adenocarcinoma of the lung, Wang said.
Zhong Nanshan, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, said that without timely intervention, pollution could have a potential health impact much greater than that of the SARS epidemic.
Zhong also said that severe pollution could result in low birth weight and premature births.
He said there has been an increasing number of studies on the relationship between air quality and health, and he referred to one linking exposure to air pollution and traffic fumes to low birth weight.
This study found that for every 10-microgram increase in PM2.5 per cubic meter, the incidences of premature birth increased by 3 to 5 percent, while average birth weights were lowered by 8.9 grams.
PM2.5 particles are air pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, small enough to invade the smallest airways.
Some public health experts have forecast that in five to seven years, China will see a substantial increase in diseases including lung cancer and cardiovascular conditions, Zhong said.
Wang's findings on cancer resulted from a study she led that was published in the Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine in March 2011. Wang and her co-workers examined cases of lung cancer diagnosed at Beijing hospitals from 1998 to 2007.
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