Risk Factors for Lung Cancer in an Underrepresented Safety-Net Screening Cohort.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: The USPSTF (United States Preventive Services Task Force) guidelines suggest criteria centering on smoking status and age to select patients for lung cancer screening. Despite the significant advances in screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT), cancer detection rate is low (1.1%), highlighting the need to investigate possible ways to refine the current lung cancer screening strategy. Our aim was to determine clinical risk factors predictive of lung cancer in an urban safety-net hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of 2847 patients who received LDCT screening for lung cancer between 3/1/2015 and 12/31/2019. Patient demographics and medical history were collected. A bivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate predictors of lung cancer. RESULTS: Compared to the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) population, our screening cohort had significantly more African Americans (38.2% vs. 4.5%, P < .0001), more obesity (32.7% vs. 28.3%, P < .0001), and higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (45.9% vs. 5.0%, P < .0001). The strongest predictors of lung cancer were COPD (odds ratio [OR] = 2.14, P < .0001) and a family history of lung cancer (OR = 2.77, P < .0001). Age (OR = 1.04, P< .001) and pack years (OR = 1.01, P< .001) were less predictive. CONCLUSION: A diagnosis of COPD and family history of lung cancer were most predictive of lung cancer in a screening cohort at our urban safety-net hospital. Future studies should focus on whether inclusion of these additional risk-factors improves proportion of lung cancer detected via screening.

Lung adenocarcinoma and pulmonary actinomycosis: a cautionary tale.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary actinomycosis is a rare and slowly progressive bacterial infection that is often mistaken for lung cancer. Multiple case reports caution against premature diagnosis of malignancy without proper consideration of potential Actinomyces infection. However, no cases in the English literature have been reported that demonstrate the possible coexistence of Actinomyces and lung cancer. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present two cases of patients with culture-positive Actinomyces who were later found to have concomitant biopsy-proven lung adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: In the workup of a newly identified lung mass, positive culture for Actinomyces does not rule out an underlying malignancy.