Liverpool Lung Project: Risk Factors and Genetic Markers in Healthy Participants and Patients With Lung Cancer

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Prospective cohort:

  • All residents (n=326,000), aged 45-79, within the designated Liverpool postcode study area will be eligible for entry into the study

    • 7,500 people will be randomly selected from this population via general practitioner's (GP's) lists held by each Primary Care Trust
    • All the GP's who have practices within the study area will be asked to collaborate with the project

• Case-control:

  • Patients: Newly diagnosed cases of primary lung cancer

    • All cases of epithelial tumors of the trachea, bronchus, and lung will be included
  • Two controls per case who are matched for age (+/- 2 years) and gender and will be randomly selected from the Liverpool Lung Project prospective cohort

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Inclusion Criteria:

  • Prospective cohort:

    • Age 45-79
    • Living within the Liverpool electoral wards

  • Case-control:

    • Upper age limit of 80 years old
    • Resident within Liverpool Lung Project area

• Exclusion Criteria:

  • Both cohorts:

    • Unable to provide competent informed consent
    • Ineligible to approach based on consultant/clinical team advice
    • Infectious respiratory disease (i.e., chest infection and are on antibiotics) within the past 3 months
    • Untreated pulmonary tuberculosis within the past 3 months

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Participant and/or patient must not have had any of the following treatments within the last 3 months and is not planning to undergo any of them:

  • Cardiac surgery
  • Thoracic surgery
  • Carotid artery surgery
  • Abdominal surgery
  • Chemotherapy
  • Deep x-ray therapy