Lung cancer in never-smokers has been identified as a separate disease entity. Notably, the proportion of this distinct disease has been reported to increase in recent decades. Due to its occult onset and lack of clinical specificity, patients with this disease are always diagnosed with advanced stage. This review summarizes the current literatures about the risk factors, clinicopathological characteristics, molecular features, and prognosis of lung cancer in never-smokers, which will enhance our understanding and facilitate the precise management of this distinct disease.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of young patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).MethodsA total of 5320 patients with primary NSCLC from 2008 to 2014 were included and then divided into four groups according to their age, ie. a young group (≤ 45 years), a middle-young group (46 - 60 years), a middle-old group (61 - 75 years) and an old group (≥76 years). The clinicopathological manifestation and overall survival (OS) of the patients among the different age groups were compared.ResultsThe patients aged 45 years or younger accounted for 12.1% of all NSCLC cases. The proportions of females, never-smokers and adenocarcinoma were 49.9%, 65.9% and 74.0% in the young group, higher than those in the other three age groups (P<0.001 for all). And the proportion of Ⅲ/Ⅳ stage tumor was 84.3% in the young group, just less than that in the old group (87.9%; P<0.001). Patients in the young group were more likely to receive surgery (30.5%) and chemotherapy (38.9%), and got comparatively favorable OS compared with the patients in other age groups (P>0.05 for all).ConclusionsNSCLC occurring in young population is not rare. Young patients with NSCLC have unique clinicopathological characteristics, with more females, never-smokers and adenocarcinomas. Young patients with NSCLC may choose aggressive treatment approaches, such as surgery and chemotherapy, thus get a comparatively favorable prognosis.
Objective To investiget the necessity of carrying out the education of Tobacco Hazards and Prevention and Control in Chinese universities, and explore the teaching mode of Tobacco Hazards and Prevention and Control suitable for college students, so as to improve the teaching quality and the awareness level of Chinese college students on tobacco hazards. Methods A public elective course on Tobacco Hazards and Prevention and Control was set up in Sichuan University with the teaching mode of scientific popularization education, combining theory and practice. The 43 college students who had completed the public elective course on Tobacco Hazards and Prevention and Control in the autumn semester of 2022 were retrospectively included as the research group (the elective group), and 43 college students who did not take this course in the same period were included as the control group (the non-elective group) by the method of quota sampling. Questionnaire survey was adopted to investigate the basic information, personal and family smoking situation of the two groups of students, evaluate the purpose of taking this course, satisfaction with the course, and mastery of knowledge related to tobacco epidemiology of the students who had completed the course, and compare the awareness of tobacco hazards and the attitude toward tobacco prevention and control between the two groups. Results There was no significant difference in age, gender, education level, place of student source, personal smoking situation, family smoking situation, or secondhand smoking exposure between the two groups (P>0.05). In the elective group, 58.1% of the students chose the course due to their personal interests, and 74.4% of the students were very satisfied with the course. The awareness rates of smoking causing myocardial infarction (97.7% vs. 72.1%) and stroke (97.7% vs. 81.4%), secondhand smoking causing heart disease in adults (97.7% vs. 76.7%), and “low tar not equaling to low hazard” (86.0% vs. 37.2%) in the elective group were significantly higher than those in the non-elective group (P<0.05). The rates of awareness of E-cigarettes being harmful to health and supportive attitude toward smoking being forbidden in public places were high in both groups (P>0.05). Conclusion Carrying out the public elective course on Tobacco Hazards and Prevention and Control in comprehensive universities with the teaching mode of popularizing science education and combining theory and practice can improve the theoretical knowledge and awareness level of college students related to tobacco, which is of great significance to improving the tobacco prevention and control awareness of college students.