Trends in lung cancer incidence within the last 10 years: An Eastern Anatolian single center experience

Abstract

Aim: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women, and mortality and morbidity rates vary according to different histological groups. Therefore, histological type determination is extremely important. The purpose of the study is to investigate the histological subtypes of lung cancer cases within the last 10 years in one of the biggest centers of the Eastern Anatolian Region, considering the changes made in the 2015 updates in lung tumors by World Health Organization (WHO), and investigate the relationship between these histological sub-types and distribution according to year, gender and age.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, patients who were referred for lung biopsy between January 2010 and December 2019 and diagnosed with lung carcinoma were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: Our study shows that the frequency of lung cancer, along with histological subtypes, has increased throughout the years. The most common lung cancer type, regardless of gender, is Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), followed by Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (SCLC) and Adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinoma and SHC were the most common subtypes among females and males, respectively. A significant relationship was observed between gender and histological type (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The data from our study suggest that the incidence of lung cancer increased throughout the years, similar to the data from our country and other developing countries around the world. In terms of subtypes, among developing countries, Adenocarcinoma rate increased while SCC rate decreased. In our study, the most common histological types increased at a similar rate. Adenocarcinoma was the most common lung cancer among females, similar to other developing countries. The most common lung cancer overall remained the same: SCC. This was considered an indication of the unchanged smoking habits of males.