Lung cancer in patients under 50 years old

A long-term retrospective study was carried out on 790 cases of lung cancer to determine if the clinicopathologic characteristics and survival rates o f lung cancer patients under the age of 50 differ from those of patients 50 years of age or older at diagnosis by analyzing data on patients registere d at Tochigi Cancer Center Hospital, Of the 790 patients, 77 (9.7%) were un der the age of 50 at diagnosis, The percentage of women in the younger pati ent group was significantly higher than that in the older patient group (39 .0% vs. 27.5%; P=0.034), Tumor histology revealed a significant preponderan ce of adenocarcinomas (60 patients, 77.9%) and a paucity of squamous cell c arcinomas (8 patients, 10.4%) in the younger age group (P<0.001). The prepo nderance of adenocarcinoma was significant in both males and females (male: P=0.004, female: P=0.004), Smoking rates and rate of detection by cancer s creening did not differ between the two age groups, Because of the paucity of smelters among the younger female patients, causes of lung cancer other than smoking should be sought in younger patients. No difference was found in the stage of the disease at presentation, treatment methods and survival rates between the two age groups. It is suggested that the prognosis for p atients with lung cancer under the age of 50 is not significantly worse tha n for those aged. 50 years or older, as has been shown by several investiga tors.