Open AccessSuspected cancer symptoms and blood test results in primary care before a diagnosis of lung cancer: a case–control study
Author(s) -
Laura McDonald,
Robert Carroll,
Akash Harish,
Nikhil Tanna,
Faisal Mehmud,
Raza Alikhan,
Sreeram Ramagopalan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
future oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.857
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1744-8301
pISSN - 1479-6694
DOI - 10.2217/fon-2019-0442
Subject(s) - medicine , lung cancer , cancer , blood test , odds ratio , lung , case control study , oncology , gastroenterology
Aim: To compare symptoms and blood test results prior to cancer diagnosis in individuals who developed lung cancer and those who did not. Patients & methods: Nested case–control study, lung cancer patients were matched to up four controls with no record of cancer. Differences in symptoms and blood test results were investigated in the 2-year period prior to diagnosis. Results: 26,379 lung cancer patients were matched to 92,125 controls. Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) was independently predictive of lung cancer at every 2-month interval 12 months prior to diagnosis. Elevated CRP in conjunction with at least one symptom was associated with greater than fourfold higher odds of lung cancer. Conclusion: CRP may be a prediagnostic marker for lung cancer, and when present with other symptoms could facilitate the investigation of high-risk individuals.