Hypothesis: How are the epidemiologic repartition and the physiopathology of lung cancer (LC) in Algeria?

Objective: Our study aimed to establish the clinico-epidemiological profile and evaluate redox imbalance in Algerian patients with LC.

Methods and results: Our study concerned 94 Algerian patients with LC treated at two hospitals of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. The clinico-epidemiological profile was established. Moreover, the redox imbalance was evaluated by dosing oxidative stress (OS) parameters in tumor tissues and blood. We noted that the average age was 62.06 years, and 79 among the 94 patients were male, 94.59% of which were smokers. The most common histological type was adenocarcinoma (45.45% of cases), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (37.88%) small-cell carcinoma (4.86%) and other histological types (6.67%), while the most frequent clinical stage was IV (66.95 %). 23 of the 94 patients were exposed to particular risk factors such as masonry products, metal mechanics, coal smoke and so forth. In other respects, the OS parameters: NO (Nitrogen monoxide), AOPP (Advanced Oxidation Protein Products) and MDA (Malondialdehyde) were higher in tumor tissues compared to peritumoral stroma (control), unlike the catalase activity. Otherwise, AOPP and MDA were significantly higher in patients’ blood than in healthy control blood, in contrast to the catalase activity.

Discussion: The LC has a heterogeneous repartition regarding the sex, age, histological types, the smoking status and professional exposition to risk factors in the Algerian population. Moreover, the oxidative stress impacts the physiopathology of LC.