Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
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Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · Feb 2006
Comparative StudyCancer incidence in a general population of asthma patients.
Several studies have assessed the association between asthma and cancer but none of them revealed a clear pattern of association. We aimed to examine the association between asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cancer. ⋯ Asthma was not associated with an increased risk of cancer. In fact, the risk of non-smoking related cancer was slightly reduced. However, we observed a small-elevated risk of lung cancer among asthmatic patients. Whether this result is a due to residual confounding and/or protopathic bias remains unclear. Further investigation is warranted to confirm or discard these associations.