Epidemiological Evolution of Lung Cancer in the South of Spain from 1990 to 2010

BACKGROUND: Changes in lung cancer has been characterized by the increase of cases among women and the increase in adenocarcinomas among other histological subtypes. METHODS: Descriptive analysis of cases diagnosed with lung cancer in Hospital Virgen de las Nieves (Spain) from 1990 to 2010, based on five variables (age, sex, smoking, histology and pathological anatomy). The study establishes associations between these variables and compares the results with the literature. RESULTS: 2, 026 patients were diagnosed with lung cancer in this period; 1, 838 were males (90.7%) and 188 women (9.3%); 1, 892 patients (93.4%) were smokers or ex-smokers and 134 (6.6%) had never smoked; the most frequent non-small cell histology types were squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma and it was the most frequent neoplasia in women and were associated with a lower tobacco consumption. CONCLUSION: The large majority of lung cancer cases is associated with a history of smoking tobacco and there are histopathological differences according to gender and cumulative tobacco smoke load.