An observational study in Lung Cancer, sponsored by National Cancer Institute (NCI). Completed at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 40 Years to 100 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-22.
Sponsored by National Cancer Institute (NCI) · Observational
The overall goal of this project is to identify strategies to reduce lung cancer incidence and mortality. Using a high-risk occupational cohort, our specific objectives are 1) to establish a biologic specimen bank and data bank that can be used for the validation and refinement of potential early markers of lung cancer, and 2) to establish a cohort for the study of environmental (including dietary) and genetic risk factors for lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from malignant neoplasms in the United States and in many countries around the world. Potential strategies to reduce the incidence and mortality of lung cancer include new methods of early detection and identification and alteration of etiologic factors.
The Yunnan Tin Corporation (YTC), located in Yunnan Province in southern China, is a large, nonferrous-metals industry, formed in 1883 and nationalized after the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. It is involved principally in the production of tin from the mines around the city of Gejiu. The tin miners at YTC have extremely high rates of lung cancer. Among those at high risk, defined as miners 40+ years old with 10+ years of underground mining and/or smelting experience, more than one percent per year develop lung cancer. These extraordinary lung cancer rates result from combined exposure to radon, arsenic, and tobacco smoking in the form of cigarettes and/or bamboo water pipe.
The study population for the development of a biologic specimen bank for the study of early markers of lung cancer is all YTC miners considered to be at high risk for lung cancer based on their occupation exposure (40+ years old with 10+ years of underground or smelting experience). Currently numbering over 7,000, this high-risk group has been the target for the annual lung cancer screening program at the YTC for the past 20+ years. For each high-risk miner, sputum samples are collected annually, read for cytologic interpretation, and stored in Saccomanno's solution for future early marker research. Screening chest x-rays are also obtained. Subjects are followed annually to determine if any have developed lung cancer. Diagnostic workup of suspicious cases includes an additional sputum sample and histology specimen(s), which are used for diagnostic purposes and also retained for future research.
Additional biologic specimens have also been obtained on screenees for etiologic research, including a one-time collection of whole blood, urine, and toenail clippings. Finger stick bloods and buccal smears for DNA will also be sought.
The overall goal of this project is to identify strategies to reduce lung cancer incidence and mortality. Using a high-risk occupational cohort, our specific objectives are 1) to establish a biologic specimen bank and data bank that can be used for the validation and refinement of potential early markers of lung cancer, and 2) to establish a cohort for the study of environmental (including dietary) and genetic risk factors for lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from malignant neoplasms in the United States and in many countries around the world. Potential strategies to reduce the incidence and mortality of lung cancer include new methods of early detection and identification and alteration of etiologic factors.
The Yunnan Tin Corporation (YTC), located in Yunnan Province in southern China, is a large, nonferrous-metals industry, formed in 1883 and nationalized after the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. It is involved principally in the production of tin from the mines around the city of Gejiu. The tin miners at YTC have extremely high rates of lung cancer. Among those at high risk, defined as miners 40+ years old with 10+ years of underground mining and/or smelting experience, more than one percent per year develop lung cancer. These extraordinary lung cancer rates result from combined exposure to radon, arsenic, and tobacco smoking in the form of cigarettes and/or bamboo water pipe.
The study population for the development of a biologic specimen bank for the study of early markers of lung cancer is all YTC miners considered to be at high risk for lung cancer based on their occupation exposure (40+ years old with 10+ years of underground or smelting experience). Currently numbering over 7,000, this high-risk group has been the target for the annual lung cancer screening program at the YTC for the past 20+ years. For each high-risk miner, sputum samples are collected annually, read for cytologic interpretation, and stored in Saccomanno's solution for future early marker research. Screening chest x-rays are also obtained. Subjects are followed annually to determine if any have developed lung cancer. Diagnostic workup of suspicious cases includes an additional sputum sample and histology specimen(s), which are used for diagnostic purposes and also retained for future research.
Additional biologic specimens have also been obtained on screenees for etiologic research, including a one-time collection of whole blood, urine, and toenail clippings. Finger stick bloods and buccal smears for DNA will also be sought.
7,243 studies on the registry are indexed under Lung Neoplasms; 1,558 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 9,759 is above the median of 189 across 1,512 observational studies indexed under Lung Neoplasms.
Browse Lung Neoplasms studies →National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the lead sponsor of 3,506 studies on the registry; 334 are open to participants now.
Of its 402 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 365 (91%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
The Yunnan Tin Corporation (YTC), located in Yunnan Province in southern China, is a large, nonferrousmetals industry, formed in 1883 and nationalized after the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. It is involved principally in the production of tin from the mines around the city of Gejiu. The tin miners at YTC have extremely high rates of lung cancer. Among those at high risk, defined as miners 40+ years old with 10+ years of underground mining and/or smelting experience, more than one percent per year develop lung cancer. These extraordinary lung cancer rates result from combined exposure to radon, arsenic, and tobacco smoking in the form of cigarettes and/or bamboo water pipe. The study population for the development of a biologic specimen bank for the study of early markers of lung cancer@@@is all YTC miners considered to be at high risk for lung cancer based on their occupation exposure (40+ years old with 10+ years of underground or smelting experience).
Study participants will be taken from those participating in the annual lung cancer screening examinations conducted by the Labor Protection Institute of the YTC.
Current or retired workers between the ages of 40 and 74.
A history of 10 or more years of underground mining and/or smelting experience.
No proven, active malignancy or serious illness that would interfere with sputum specimen collection.
Tin Miners in China at risk of lung cancer
Identification, validation and refinement of potential early markers of lung cancer
Examining sputum microbiome
Time frame: 12/31/2040
This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)