Background: The association between lung cancer and eczema remains controversial. Previous studies have yielded conflicting results. This retrospective population-based cohort study is aimed at clarifying the risk of lung cancer associated with eczema.
Patients and methods: By using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified 43,719 patients who had been newly diagnosed with eczema in the years 2000 to 2010. The comparison cohort included 87,438 randomly selected, age-matched patients without eczema. The cases of these two cohorts were followed until 2011. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to calculate the risk of lung cancer in eczema patients. The database did not contain any information regarding smoking, alcohol consumption, socioeconomic status, or family history.
Results: After adjusting for age and comorbidity, the population with eczema had a 2.80-fold greater risk of developing lung cancer compared with the population in the comparison cohort (adjusted hazard ratio 2.80, 95 % confidence interval 2.59-3.03). Eczema patients with comorbid diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive -pulmonary disease, alcoholic liver damage, or diabetes were at a higher risk of lung cancer compared with the non-eczema patients without comorbidity.
Conclusions: Eczema is associated with a greater risk for the development of lung cancer. Further studies with more comprehensive information on potential confounders are warranted.
© 2016 Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft (DDG). Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.