A research gives new insight into how smoking is capable for causing cancer. The study provides a link between the number of cigarettes smoked and the number of mutations in tumor DNA.
The negative health consequences of smoking are well known already. An estimated 6 million people die each year due to smoking-related illnesses. If trends continue, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there will be 1 billion tobacco-related deaths this century.
Smoking is known to cause a lot of damage to variety of organs and it sparks mutations in DNA via a number of mechanisms.
Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and King's College London in the United Kingdom and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, recently undertook a deep dive into the genetics of smoking-related cancers.
"Before now, we had a large body of epidemiological evidence linking smoking with cancer, but now we can actually observe and quantify the molecular changes in the DNA due to cigarette smoking," says first author Dr. Ludmil Alexandrov, of the Los Alamos National Laboratory,.
"With this study, we have found that people who smoke a pack a day develop an average of 150 extra mutations in their lungs every year, which explains why smokers have such a higher risk of developing lung cancer."
"Mutations caused by direct DNA damage from carcinogens in tobacco were seen mainly in organs that come into direct contact with inhaled smoke. In contrast, other cells of the body suffered only indirect damage, as tobacco smoking seems to affect key mechanisms in these cells that in turn mutate DNA." Study co-author Prof. David Phillips, King's College London
Prof. Sir Mike Stratton, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and joint lead author, says: "This study of smoking tells us that looking in the DNA of cancers can provide provocative new clues to how cancers develop and thus, potentially, how they can be prevented."
Medical News Today recently asked Dr. Alexandrov if they plan to carry out more research in a similar vein. He said:
"This study has shown that molecular profiling of cancer patients can be used to identify the mechanisms by which different carcinogens cause cancer. We are planning future studies to reveal the mechanisms by which other known epidemiological factors cause cancer. For example, we are currently working on elucidating the mechanisms by which obesity causes cancer."
When MNT asked him what research he would carry out if he was given unlimited time, money, and resources, he said: "I would molecularly profile every single cancer patient across the world to better understand the causes of cancer and use this knowledge for developing future cancer prevention strategies."
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