IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-56803-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Inflammatory diseases and risk of lung cancer among individuals who have never smoked

Author

Listed:
  • Monica E. D’Arcy

    (National Cancer Institute
    Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Sciences
    Rutgers Cancer Institute)

  • Ruth M. Pfeiffer

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Marie C. Bradley

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Phuc H. Hoang

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Thi-Van-Trinh Tran

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • John P. McElderry

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Mengying Li

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Michael Kebede

    (University of North Carolina)

  • Curt T. DellaValle

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Sara Rivas

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Youjin Wang

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Shahinaz M. Gadalla

    (National Cancer Institute)

  • Maria Teresa Landi

    (National Cancer Institute)

Abstract

Lung cancer in never-smokers (LCINS) is a leading cause of cancer death globally, but no screening programs for LCINS exist. To identify medical conditions that could serve as markers of LCINS risk, we conducted a nested case-control study within the United Kingdom’s Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD-GOLD), consisting of 1581 LCINS cases and 14,318 never-smoking controls. Conditions significantly associated with LCINS 1-10 years before the index date were validated in an independent dataset, CPRD-Aurum (2188 LCINS cases, 19,597 never-smoking controls). These conditions include Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease/Emphysema (COPD); gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); bronchitis and tracheitis; diabetes mellitus type 1; and gastritis and non-infective gastroenteritis and colitis. Adjusting for medication use only slightly attenuated these associations. Overall, inflammatory diseases appear to be important in LCINS pathogenesis although further studies need to confirm these associations. Conditions such as GERD or COPD could be considered as part of eligibility criteria for future LCINS screening programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica E. D’Arcy & Ruth M. Pfeiffer & Marie C. Bradley & Phuc H. Hoang & Thi-Van-Trinh Tran & John P. McElderry & Mengying Li & Michael Kebede & Curt T. DellaValle & Sara Rivas & Youjin Wang & Shahina, 2025. "Inflammatory diseases and risk of lung cancer among individuals who have never smoked," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-56803-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56803-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56803-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-56803-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A-Sol Kim & Hae-Jin Ko & Jin-Hyun Kwon & Jong-Myung Lee, 2018. "Exposure to Secondhand Smoke and Risk of Cancer in Never Smokers: A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiologic Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Jan Hovanec & Jack Siemiatycki & David I Conway & Ann Olsson & Isabelle Stücker & Florence Guida & Karl-Heinz Jöckel & Hermann Pohlabeln & Wolfgang Ahrens & Irene Brüske & Heinz-Erich Wichmann & Per G, 2018. "Lung cancer and socioeconomic status in a pooled analysis of case-control studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, February.
    3. repec:plo:pone00:0017479 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. William Hill & Emilia L. Lim & Clare E. Weeden & Claudia Lee & Marcellus Augustine & Kezhong Chen & Feng-Che Kuan & Fabio Marongiu & Edward J. Evans & David A. Moore & Felipe S. Rodrigues & Oriol Pich, 2023. "Lung adenocarcinoma promotion by air pollutants," Nature, Nature, vol. 616(7955), pages 159-167, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meng Du & Yang Zhao & Jiahao Yang & Wanying Wang & Xinyi Luo & Ziyu Zhong & Bixue Huang, 2024. "Impact of ENVI-met-Based Road Greening Design on Thermal Comfort and PM 2.5 Concentration in Hot–Humid Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-30, September.
    2. Mateusz Jankowski & Jarosław Pinkas & Wojciech S. Zgliczyński & Dorota Kaleta & Waldemar Wierzba & Mariusz Gujski & Vaughan W. Rees, 2020. "Voluntary Smoke-Free Home Rules and Exposure to Secondhand Smoke in Poland: A National Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-10, October.
    3. Chenxue Li & Yuxin Duan & Zhicheng Zhou & Shen Zhong, 2025. "The Impact of Smart City Construction on PM 2.5 Concentrations: Empirical Analysis from Chinese Counties," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-26, June.
    4. Noluthando P. Mbeje & Themba Ginindza & Nkosana Jafta, 2022. "Epidemiological Study of Risk Factors for Lung Cancer in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-13, May.
    5. Mohammed Nagdi Taha & Zaki Al-Ghumgham & Nasloon Ali & Rami H. Al-Rifai & Iffat Elbarazi & Fatima Al-Maskari & Omar El-Shahawy & Luai A. Ahmed & Tom Loney, 2022. "Tobacco Use and Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke amongst Pregnant Women in the United Arab Emirates: The Mutaba’ah Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-12, June.
    6. Fan He & Tian Li & Junfen Lin & Fudong Li & Yujia Zhai & Tao Zhang & Xue Gu & Genming Zhao, 2020. "Passive Smoking Exposure in Living Environments Reduces Cognitive Function: A Prospective Cohort Study in Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-11, February.
    7. Jiyeon Yang & Shervin Hashemi & Wonseok Han & Yoojin Song & Youngwook Lim, 2022. "Exposure and Risk Assessment of Second- and Third-Hand Tobacco Smoke Using Urinary Cotinine Levels in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-19, March.
    8. Ulrich Hommel & Konstanze Hurth & Jean-Michel Rondeau & Anna Vulpetti & Daniela Ostermeier & Andreas Boettcher & Jacob Peter Brady & Michael Hediger & Sylvie Lehmann & Elke Koch & Anke Blechschmidt & , 2023. "Discovery of a selective and biologically active low-molecular weight antagonist of human interleukin-1β," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Liyang Wan & Yunxiao Liu & Kangjuan Lv & Ning Zhang, 2024. "Firm Innovation in Hazy Days: Chinese Evidence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(7), pages 1923-1954, July.
    10. Tatyana Deryugina & Julian Reif, 2023. "The Long-run Effect of Air Pollution on Survival," NBER Working Papers 31858, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Ladislav Štěpánek & Jarmila Ševčíková & Dagmar Horáková & Mihir Sanjay Patel & Radka Durďáková, 2022. "Public Health Burden of Secondhand Smoking: Case Reports of Lung Cancer and a Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-11, October.
    12. Jingmei Jiang & Luwen Zhang & Zixing Wang & Wentao Gu & Cuihong Yang & Yubing Shen & Jing Zhao & Wei Han & Yaoda Hu & Fang Xue & Wangyue Chen & Xiaobo Guo & Hairong Li & Peng Wu & Yali Chen & Yujie Zh, 2024. "Spatial consistency of co-exposure to air and surface water pollution and cancer in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-56803-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.