肺結核と肺癌の疫学的考察

抄録

The objective of this study is to determine what type of correlations, if any, exists between pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer from the epidemiological point of view, and to detect some common and/or specific risk factors to both tuberculosis and cancer. Because the coexistence of lung cancer among pulmonary tuberculosis patients has frequently been reported from various areas in Japan and other countries, and there has been an interesting hypothesis on the relationship between both diseases since the beginning of this century.
The results are as follows:
1. In the death certificate studies, the deaths from lung cancer have had a significantly high prevalence rate of advanced tuberculosis in both Japan and USA.
2. In the autopsy series in 1974-1982, Japan, the cases diagnosed as lung cancer pathologically have had a significantly high rate of advanced pulmonary tuberculosis, but not high rate among the other diseases such as gastric cancer, heart and cerebrovascular diseases.
3. The cumulative death rates up to 84 years from birth or 5 years of age were estimated based on the age-sex specific death rates of tuberculosis and cancer in Japan. The estimated cumulative combined rate of tuberculosis and cancer was approaching 20% of the birth cohorts born between 1950 and 1975 for males and 15% for females, and there is no significant difference in the rates between the birth cohorts. These proportions were very similar to those of England? Wales, Scotland and New Jersey in USA. During the period of 1950 to 1980, the death rate of tuberculosis decreased markedly, while those of lung cancer steeply increased. And the death rates of other cancers have been stable or showed only minor changes.