Abstract
In a population-based case-control study of lung cancer in Shanghai involving interviews during 1984-86 with 1,405 cancer patients and 1,495 controls, a significant 50% elevation in the risk of lung cancer, adjusted for cigarette smoking, was observed among persons who had a history of tuberculosis. Among those diagnosed with tuberculosis within the past 20 years, the risk exceeded 2.5-fold. In males the lung cancers tended to occur on the same side as the previous tuberculosis infection. For both sexes, the effect of recent tuberculosis was most apparent for adenocarcinoma and peripheral tumours. No relationship was found between lung cancer risk and the type of tuberculosis therapy, including use of isoniazid. The findings suggest that tuberculosis may predispose to lung cancer, with the association most apparent among recent survivors of the infection.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zheng, W., Blot, W., Liao, M. et al. Lung cancer and prior tuberculosis infection in Shanghai. Br J Cancer 56, 501–504 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1987.233
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1987.233
This article is cited by
-
New progress of tuberculosis scar carcinoma
Cancer and Metastasis Reviews (2023)
-
Cancer incidence attributable to tuberculosis in 2015: global, regional, and national estimates
BMC Cancer (2020)
-
Comparison of the clinical courses and chemotherapy outcomes in metastatic colorectal cancer patients with and without active Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Mycobacterium kansasiiinfection: a retrospective study
BMC Cancer (2014)
-
Systematic review with meta-analysis of the epidemiological evidence in the 1900s relating smoking to lung cancer
BMC Cancer (2012)