Significant disparities in the rates of lung cancer diagnoses across different socioeconomic and ethnic groups in England have been revealed in a research study.
People from the most deprived areas of England were diagnosed with lung cancer at twice the rate of those in affluent areas, with Bangladeshi men experiencing a higher incidence of lung cancer than any other ethnic group.
The findings are published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe and highlight how social factors like poverty and healthcare access affect cancer outcomes.
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Using data from QResearch, a large primary care database in England, researchers from the University of Oxford analysed health records of over 17.5 million people between 2005 and 2019. All participants were over 25 years of age, and 84,253 people were diagnosed with lung cancer. The researchers applied statistical methods to calculate the associations between lung cancer incidents and ethnic and socio-demographic factors.
Rates and types of lung cancer were found to be associated with factors such as ethnicity, gender, smoking status and socioeconomic background. Bangladeshi men had the highest rates of lung cancer amongst all ethnicities, while people from the most deprived areas developed the disease at twice the rate of those from affluent areas.
Young women and people from either Indian, other Asian, Caribbean or Chinese ethnicities were between 1.5 and 2.7 times more likely to develop adenocarcinoma rather than squamous cell carcinoma when compared to White individuals.
Men and current smokers were between 1.7 and 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with an advanced stage of lung cancer compared to women and individuals who never smoked. In addition, people from deprived backgrounds had a 35 per cent increased risk of being diagnosed with a more aggressive or less treatable form of lung cancer than people from less deprived backgrounds.
Dr Daniel Tzu-Hsuan Chen, who led the research, said: ‘This isn’t just about smoking – our research shows that ethnic background and social circumstances play crucial roles in both cancer risk and how the disease develops.’
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The findings reveal patterns of lung cancer types in different ethnic and socioeconomic groups, highlighting the importance of targeted screening and early detection strategies in communities across England.
Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox, senior author of the study, said: ‘This research provides the strongest evidence yet of how your ethnic background and social circumstances affect both your risk of developing lung cancer and the type of cancer you may develop. These findings are particularly timely as the NHS rolls out its targeted lung cancer screening programme.’
The new NHS programme currently focuses on areas with high lung cancer rates and social deprivation, and the researchers hope this new study will help target those most at risk.
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Professor Hippisley-Cox added: ‘Tackling these disparities isn’t just about lung cancer, when we address these fundamental inequalities in healthcare access and social deprivation, we can improve health outcomes across many conditions. This research helps make the case for wider action on health inequalities.’
