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Our aim was to describe the characteristics of a case-series of never-smoker small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cases.Cases of SCLC were selected from a prospective, multicenter, hospital-based case-control study performed in Spain. Participants were never-smokers older than 30 years with an anatomo-pathological confirmation of primary lung cancer. We collected clinical and epidemiological variables according to the study's protocol.We included 19 SCLC cases, 18 females (94.7%), median age 75 years (interquartile range (IQR) 70-80 years). Median residential radon concentration was 195 Bq·m(-3) (IQR 130-229 Bq·m(-3)). 10 patients had limited disease and nine had extended disease. Median survival was 242 days (IQR 94-496 days); 1- and 2-year survival were 36.8% and 17.6%, respectively. Survival was much higher for individuals with limited disease than for those with extended disease (median 336 versus 235 days; 1-year survival 50% versus 22.2% and 2-year survival 27% versus 0%, respectively). Performance status at diagnosis was closely related to survival.SCLC is an infrequent, highly aggressive disease in never-smokers. Survival is poor, even for limited disease. Age at diagnosis in SCLC is higher than that observed for never-smokers with adenocarcinoma. Residential radon exposure is higher than the action levels recommended by the World Health Organization.

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The aim of this study was to assess if residential radon exposure might cause EGFR mutations or ALK rearrangements in never-smokers.We designed a multicentre case-control study in a radon-prone area (Galicia, Spain); only lung cancer cases were included in the study. We obtained residential radon measurements and clinical information for all the participants. We compared the median values of residential radon between patients with EGFR mutations or ALK rearrangements versus those without them.323 patients were included. Median age was 70 years and 19.5% were males. 42 and 15% of patients were EGFR- and ALK-positive, respectively. The most frequent EGFR alterations were exon 19 deletions and exon 21 (L858R) single-point substitution mutations. ALK-positive patients were 10 years younger than ALK-negative patients. Residential radon levels were two-fold higher in patients with exon 19 deletions compared with patients with exon 21 (L858R) single-point substitution mutations (216 versus 118 Bq·m; p=0.057). There were no differences in residential radon levels by EGFR mutation status. ALK-positive patients (n=12) essentially had two-fold residential radon levels compared with ALK-negative patients (290 versus 164 Bq·m, respectively).Residential radon may have a role in the molecular signature of lung cancer in never-smokers, although more studies with larger sample sizes are needed to support this hypothesis.

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