Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Lung cancer is often more common in people with other lung conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The increased risk of lung cancer is associated with smoking, and also the presence of systemic inflammation. The idea behind this study is that certain medications, specifically, inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), often used by people with COPD, might reduce the chance of developing lung cancer. Routinely collected administrative data for the province of British Columbia will be used to identify and follow COPD patients over time. I will determine which of these patients were using standard treatments for COPD in combination with ICS and estimate the chance of lung cancer between the two groups (users and non-users) to see if ICS provide a protective effect against lung cancer development. In so doing, I will use a variety of way to define exposure to the medication, which will help our understanding of the relationship between using ICS and lung cancer risk. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in men and women in Canada and the number one cause of cancer-related death. Given this burden of lung cancer in Canada, in terms of both mortality, and also the impact on the Canadian health care system, any reduction in lung cancer incidence could have significant benefits for patients, health care providers, and payers, particularly in this high risk group of people with COPD.