The PM 2.5 concentration reduction improves survival rate of lung cancer in Beijing.

Introduction: Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM _2.5 ) has been linked to increases in the incidence of lung cancer. However, more evidence is needed to conclude its effects on lung cancer survival.
Objectives: The study aimed to explore the relationship between long-term PM _2.5 exposure and lung cancer survival and evaluated the benefits of clean air actions in Beijing.
Methods: A whole-population cohort study was conducted on lung cancer patients diagnosed between 2001 and 2017. An atmospheric chemical transport model was used to estimate exposure under a counterfactual scenario without the policy and then quantified the effect of the policy. Cox regression models were used with the seasonality-adjusted PM _2.5 as the main effect.
Results: A 10 μg/m ³ increase in PM _2.5 was estimated to be with a 6.5 % (95 % CI: 4.8 %, 8.2 %) increase in the mortality rates. The association was heterogeneous and modified by individual-level characteristics. The clean air actions were estimated to have prevented 3548 (95 % CI: 3280, 3825) premature deaths and to have prolonged survival time by 4.29 months (95 % CI: 0.01, 25.11).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that PM _2.5 exposure lowers the survival rate for lung cancer. The clean air actions implemented in Beijing can protect lung cancer patients by increasing their survival time.
Synopsis: Long-term exposure to PM _2.5 can lower lung patients' survival rates whereas the clean air actions in Beijing have prolonged these patients' survival time by reducing PM _2.5 level.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)