Overview
- A USC-led analysis of 187 people diagnosed with lung cancer by age 50 found patients reported higher diet quality than the U.S. average, scoring 65 on the Healthy Eating Index versus 57.
- Most patients were women who had never smoked, and many had tumors that differ biologically from smoking-related lung cancers.
- The team points to pesticide residues on conventionally grown produce as a hypothesis, citing reports of higher lung cancer rates among pesticide sprayers.
- The study did not measure pesticides in patients and estimated exposure from average residue data, so the findings are preliminary and do not show cause and effect.
- Next steps include biomonitoring of blood and urine for pesticide metabolites and broader analyses of tobacco trends and sex-specific exposures to guide prevention research.