Chronic Respiratory Diseases and Lung Cancer Risk

Lung cancer (LC), the leading cause of death due to malignancy in both males and females, is common in patients with coexisting respiratory comorbidities. Many of these share common etiologies with LC such as smoking, biomass fume or occupational exposure, and ambient air pollution, but also a genetic predisposition and/or common pathophysiologic mechanisms, chief among them chronic inflammation, altered immune surveillance, cell injury and increased turnover, to name a few. This common thread puts patients with respiratory comorbidities at increased risk of developing LC. The present article reviews why patients with 5 of the most prevalent chronic respiratory diseases (COPD, asthma, Interstitial Lung Disease, Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Bronchiectasis) are at increased risk of LC and the potential pathological mechanisms underlying this clinically relevant association.