Grant: Undergraduate: Mobility, musculoskeletal health and arthritis - ICS

Background and Rationale: Cancer is increasingly common in the developed world. As we focus more on long-term outcomes in arthritis and related disease, there is increasing interest in cancer risk in rheumatic disorders. Individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been shown to have distinct cancer risk profiles. Compared to the general population, current data indicate a slight (10-15%) increase in cancer in SLE overall. However, evidence also points to a 50% increased risk of lung cancer in SLE, relative to the general population. The reasons behind an association between SLE and lung cancer is unknown. The objective of this project is to provide a brief report of the lung cancer cases from a very large SLE sample population, with respect to demographics (age,race and sex), lung cancer cell types, and exposures of the patients to smoking and medications.