THE PATTERN OF RESPIRATORY-INFECTION IN PATIENTS WITH LUNG-CANCER

We examined retrospectively the pattern of respiratory infection in 57 9 patients with lung cancer admitted to Nagasaki University Hospital d uring the past 15 years. A total of 139 patients (24.0%) developed res piratory infection. The rates of pulmonary infection associated with l arge (36.2%) and small cell carcinomas (33.6%) mere significantly high er than those with squamous cell carcinoma (26.0%,) and adenocarcinoma (17.3%,). Advanced stages of lung cancer were associated with higher complication rates (stage I: 6.3%, stage II: 15.9%, stage III: 27.9%, and stage IV: 33.8%). Deceased patients showed a significantly higher rate of pulmonary infection than alive patients during the period of i nvestigation. Isolated organisms in excess of 10(7) cfu/ml in sputum o r 10(4) cfu/ml in bronchial aspirate were mainly gramnegative bacteria (68.8%), such as Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enter obacter cloacae, Acinetobacter sp. and Pseudamonas aeruginosa. The num ber of patients infected with gram-positive bacteria increased markedl y after 1982. Our results suggest that a successful control of pulmona ry infection associated with lung cancer is important in improving the prognosis of lung malignancy.