Smoky Coal Exposure, Genetic Susceptibility, and Lung Cancer in Non-Smoking Women in China

Background: * Women in Xuan Wei County, China, are almost all non-smokers, yet they have the highest lung cancer rate in that country. * Non-smoking women in Xuan Wei who use smoky coal for cooking and heating homes can inhale 10 times higher levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH, compounds formed in many burning organic substances, including smoky coal) than someone who smokes 20 cigarettes a day. Objectives: * Determine the health effects of smoky coal in Xuan Wei and Fu Yuan counties in China's Yun Nan Province * Determine how different levels of exposure to smoky coal and other types of fuel affect the amount of smoky coal emissions that are absorbed into the body * Determine genetic risk factors for lung cancer in the study population and determine how they interact with smoky coal and PAH exposure. Eligibility: * Women from Xuan Wei and Fu Yuan counties between 18 and 79 years of age who have lung cancer and do or do not use smoky coal * Women from Xuan Wei and Fu Yuan counties between 18 and 79 years of age who do not have lung cancer and do or do not use smoky coal Design: -Exposure assessment study for users of smoky coal - 150 households Use of air badges, monitors, and dermal badges to determine subjects' exposure to smoky coal Collection of blood, urine, cheek cell and sputum samples to measure the amount of smoky coal emissions absorbed into the body and evaluate the types of biologic changes they cause Interview subjects about their health and family history, occupational exposures, lifestyle factors (e.g., tobacco smoking and diet), and inherited differences in genes -Case-control study - 1,000 women Collection of blood, urine, cheek cell and sputum samples to measure how amount of smoky coal emissions absorbed into the body and evaluate types of biologic changes they cause Interview subjects about their health and family history, occupational exposures, lifestyle factors (e.g., tobacco smoking and diet), and inherited differences in genes Gene analysis to determine if a genetic variation is associated with an increased or decreased risk of health effects from smoky coal exposure

Sex

Female

Minimum age

18 Years

Maximum age

79 Years

* Cases: Life-long female residents of Xuan Wei and Fu Yuan Counties aged 18 to 79 years are considered the base population. Newly diagnosed primary female lung cancer cases (ICD-9 162), each diagnosis based on a minimum of clinical symptoms, chest X-ray, and a CT scan, will be identified at two hospitals in Xuan Wei County, one hospital in Fu Yuan County, and two hospitals in Qujing District.

Controls: Females alive during the study period who do not have lung cancer and who are residents of Xuan Wei or Fu Yuan Counties aged 18 to 79 will be eligible for recruitment into the study. Diagnosed conditions known to be unrelated to smoky coal exposure or air pollution will be eligible for inclusion into the study. Potential controls diagnosed during the current admission with any cancer or any of the following non-cancer conditions - (respiratory tuberculosis (ICD-10: A15, 16, 19, B90), respiratory infection (A31), neoplasm (C00-D48), ischaemic heart disease (I20-I25), arterial disease (I70-I73), respiratory disease (J00-J99), peptic ulcer (K25-K27), and respiratory symptoms (R04, R06, R09), will be excluded.