Exposure to air pollution following a diagnosis of lung cancer appears to be associated with shorter survival, according to findings from a population-based study from California.
When researchers examined air pollution exposures and outcomes among more than 350,000 residents of the state diagnosed with lung cancer between 1988 and 2009, they found shorter average and 5-year survival times among those with higher exposures to each of four measured air pollutants.
The trend was strongest among patients with early stage disease, particularly those with adenocarcinomas, wrote researcher Sandrah P. Eckel, PhD, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and colleagues, in the study in Thorax, published online Aug. 4.
Air Pollution May Shorten Lung Cancer Survival
