Despite a global increase in adenocarcinoma of the lung throughout the last half century, new research reveals that a continuous decline of malignant tumors is now evident in the United States.
Researchers from Georgia and Alabama reviewed data from The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program and found that from 1973 to 1998 incidence rates of adenocarcinoma of the lung were increased 83 percent in men and more than 200 percent in women.
But, from 1999 to 2003, the rates were shown to decline by 14 percent in men and 8 percent in women. Researchers suggest possible causes of the decline could be attributed to decrease in air pollution, the increase use of low-tar cigarettes, or a decline in environmental tobacco smoke exposure. This study appears in the April issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.