Wood smoke exposure and lung adenocarcinoma in non-smoking Mexican women

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between long-term exposure to wood smoke from cooking and lung adenocarcinoma in non-smoking Mexican women. METHODS: We reviewed records of hospitalized patients at a chest referral hospital in Mexico City and identified 113 histologically proven lung adenocarcinoma cases in non-smoking women. Four control groups of non-smoking women were also selected: 99 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), 110 with interstitial lung disease (ILD), 64 with miscellaneous pulmonary conditions (MISC), and the three control groups combined (COMB) (n = 273). RESULTS: Exposure was assessed on the basis of questionnaire responses at the time of hospital admission. Exposure to wood smoke for more than 50 years, but not for shorter periods, was associated with lung cancer after adjusting for age, education, socio-economic status and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. Adjusted odds ratios from the multivariable logistic regression models were 1.4 (95%CI 0.6-2.0) for cases vs. TB controls, 1.9 (95%CI 0.9-4.0) for cases vs. ILD controls, 2.6 (95%CI 1.0-6.3) for cases vs. MISC controls and 1.9 (95%CI 1.1-3.5) for cases vs. COMB controls. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that long-term exposure to wood smoke from cooking may contribute to the development of lung cancer.