Major Stressful Life Events And Risk Of Developing Lung Cancer

1575Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality linked with smoking, though only 6-18% of heavy smokers die of lung cancer. We hypothesized that major stressful life events are a risk factor for developing lung cancer. Methods: In our matched case-control study, cases (CA) were lung cancer patients diagnosed within past 12 months. Controls (CO) were patients without a prior history of malignancy. CA and CO were matched for age, gender and smoking status. Smokers had at least 10 packs/years history of smoking. Data was collected using standardized research questionnaire on 11 major stressful life events using Holmes and Rahe stress scale. The primary endpoint was odds of having a major stressful life event. A sample of 360 patients (120 CA and 240 CO), was needed to achieve 80% power to detect an odds ratio (OR) of 2.00 using Chi-Square test with a P = 0.05 significance. The study was IRB approved at each institution. Results: Between May 2015 and December 2016, 324 patients we...