Association of ABO Blood Group and Risk of Lung Cancer in a Multicenter Study in Turkey

Background: The ABO blood groups and Rh factor may affect the risk of lung cancer. Materials and
Methods:We analyzed 2,044 lung cancer patients with serologically confirmed ABO/Rh blood group. A group of 3,022,883healthy blood donors of Turkish Red Crescent was identified as a control group. We compared the distributionsof ABO/Rh blood group between them.
Results: The median age was 62 years (range: 17-90). There was a clearmale predominance (84% vs. 16%). Overall distributions of ABO blood groups were significantly differentbetween patients and controls (p=0.01). There were also significant differences between patients and controls withrespect to Rh positive vs. Rh negative (p=0.04) and O vs. non-O (p=0.002). There were no statistically significantdifferences of blood groups with respect to sex, age, or histology.
Conclusions: In the study population, ABOblood types were associated with the lung cancer. Having non-O blood type and Rh-negative feature increasedthe risk of lung cancer. However, further prospective studies are necessary to define the mechanisms by whichABO blood type may influence the lung cancer risk.