Lung Cancer Devastating for Senior Citizens but
Steady Decline in Diagnoses 1995 to 2006
Hospital admissions in 2006 for lung cancer – 150,000
– about the same as 1995
Nov.
13, 2008 - Hospital admissions for lung cancer remained
relatively stable – at roughly 150,000 a year between 1995 and 2006 –
despite a steady decline in the number of Americans diagnosed with the
disease, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality. Still, the American Cancer Society says
it will be the biggest cancer killer in 2008.
Cancer was the second-leading cause of death in the
United States in 2006, and among all cancers, lung cancer had the
highest death rate - more than colon, breast, and prostate cancers
combined.
Smoking is considered a main cause of lung cancer,
yet an estimated 10−15 percent of cases each year occur in non-smokers.
The disease can also result from a number of other behavioral,
environmental, and hereditary factors, including exposure to hazardous
substances such as asbestos and radon, pollution, second-hand smoke, or
a genetic predisposition to, or family history of lung cancer.
Admissions have remained constant, in part, because
lung cancer patients are surviving longer and undergoing more
hospital-related treatments such as chemotherapy and tumor-removal
surgery, according to AHRQ experts.
(Note: see charts and graphs below news report.)
AHRQ’s analysis also found:
● There were over half a million
hospitalizations related to lung cancer in 2006.
● Aggregate costs for all hospitalizations
related to lung cancer totaled over 6 billion dollars.
● Between 1995 and 2006, the number of stays
principally for lung cancer remained relatively stable, while increasing
about 15 percent as a secondary diagnosis.
● The South had the highest rate of lung cancer
hospitalizations as a principal diagnosis, but the Northeast had the
highest rate of lung cancer stays overall (including stays for which
lung cancer was a secondary diagnosis).
● The rates of lung cancer-related
hospitalizations were highest in males 65 years and older.
● Approximately 40 percent of all
hospitalizations related to lung cancer had some form of cancer or
maintenance therapy as a principal diagnosis, including lung cancer,
secondary malignancies, maintenance radiology or chemotherapy, and other
cancers.
● A diagnostic bronchoscopy and biopsy of the
bronchus was performed in nearly half of stays principally for lung
cancer, while almost one-third cited a lobectomy or pneumonectomy.
●The average hospital cost for a lung cancer
patient in 2006 was $14,200 (about $1,900 a day). The total cost for all
patients was about $2.1 billion.
● The death rate of hospitalized lung cancer
patients was 13 percent – five times higher than the average overall
death rate (2.6 percent) for hospitalized patients.
●Only 2.4 percent of hospitalized lung cancer
patients in 2006 were younger than 44. About 63 percent were 65 or
older.
Lung
cancer hospitalizations, by age and gender
As shown in table 1, the average age of patients
hospitalized with a lung cancer diagnosis was 10 to 11 years older than
the average non-maternal, non-neonatal hospitalized patient. In fact,
the rate of hospitalization for lung cancer increases sharply with age.
Patients under the age of 45 were rare - patients
44 years and younger accounted for only 2.4 percent of stays principally
for lung cancer (3.5 stays per 100,000 population) and 1.8 percent of
stays with a secondary lung cancer diagnosis (6.7 stays per 100,000
population).
About two-thirds of lung cancer-related stays
occurred among patients 65 years and older - a rate of 253.3 stays per
100,000 population for principal lung cancer and a rate of 708.8 stays
per 100,000 population for stays with it as a secondary diagnosis.
More than twice as many hospital stays for patients
45 years and older involved a secondary diagnosis of lung cancer,
potentially indicating follow-up hospitalizations for a problem caused
by the lung cancer.
Overall, males were hospitalized more frequently
than females for lung cancer. Males accounted for 53.6 percent of stays
principally for lung cancer and 52.8 percent of stays with a secondary
lung cancer diagnosis (table 1).
Females 18 to 44 years old had a slightly higher
rate of hospitalization than males in the same age group (4.7 stays per
100,000 population versus 4.1 stays per 100,000 population for stays
principally for lung cancer, and 9.6 stays per 100,000 population versus
7.5 stays per 100,000 population for secondary lung cancer diagnoses,
respectively).
Yet for ages 45 years and older, males had a much
higher rate of hospitalization. In fact, males over the age of 65 had
the highest rates of hospitalization for all lung cancer patients, with
327.6 stays per 100,000 population for principal lung cancer
hospitalizations (64 percent higher than females) and 896.7 stays per
100,000 population for stays with a secondary lung cancer diagnosis (57
percent higher than females).
This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data from
Hospital Stays for Lung Cancer, 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief # 63).
The report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a
database of hospital inpatient stays that is nationally representative
of inpatient stays in all short-term, non-Federal hospitals. The data
are drawn from hospitals that comprise 90 percent of all discharges in
the United States and include all patients, regardless of insurance
type, as well as the uninsured. For information from the U.S. Public
Health Service on tobacco cessation, go to
http://www.ahrq.gov/path/tobacco.htm
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Nov.
13, 2008 - Hospital admissions for lung cancer remained
relatively stable – at roughly 150,000 a year between 1995 and 2006 –
despite a steady decline in the number of Americans diagnosed with the
disease, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality. Still, the American Cancer Society says
it will be the biggest cancer killer in 2008.
Two percent lower lung cancer risk with each glass of
red wine consumed per month
Lung
cancer hospitalizations, by age and gender 
