Bronchial asthma in the very elderly.

or IV disease, which was a more advanced-stage disease than that found in the other 1,000 patients (p 0.0111). Three patients underwent surgical resection, and 10 patients received chemotherapy. Five patients received radiation, and three patients received palliative care. Our study indicated that lung cancer among medical professionals had a propensity for advanced tumor stage at presentation and that smoking might have influenced the development of lung cancer. Health-care professionals may have a tendency to delay seeking medical advice. It is not clear why a lower frequency of squamous cell carcinoma and SCLC was observed among medical professionals. It might depend partly on the higher ratio of female patients among them. The high prevalence of smoking among health-care professionals is striking. Since smoking is an important factor in the occurrence of lung cancer,3–5 effective programs aimed at abstinence and the cessation of smoking are required. Moreover, practical systems for detecting early-stage lung cancer among medical professionals are needed. The behavior of health professionals toward seeking medical attention is another issue that should be raised.