Coexistent Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Cancer of the Lung

Abstract

Coexistent pulmonary tuberculosis and cancer of the lung were studied with comparison of two identical groups of 1769 persons each. The pulmonary tuberculosis series consisted of patients treated at Päivärinne Sanatorium between 1949 and 1953 and the control series of employees from two industrial plants in the city of Oulu. The names in each group were checked against those in the Finnish Cancer Register. Cancer of the lung was the most common neoplasia in both groups. Four cases of cancer of the lung, all males, were found in the pulmonary tuberculosis group, but in the control group there were six cases, again all males. However, the pulmonary tuberculosis morbidity in the control group between 1954 and 1967 was high, and two of the six cases from the control series had subsequently contracted pulmonary tuberculosis also.