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Scientists smoke out cancer genes

Written by News Desk

Wednesday, 09 April 2008

Scientists using genetic material collected in the Genetic Lung Cancer Predisposition Study (GELCAPS) in Cambridge are homing in on the genes that put smokers at most risk of developing lung cancer. It is hoped their research will lead to better treatment for smokers identified as being at most risk of developing the disease, which kills 33,000 people in the UK every year and is ranked the second most common cancer after breast cancer. Reporting in Nature Genetics, the international team of researchers carried out a ‘whole genome search’ for faulty genes that increase lung cancer risk, narrowing down their search from 300,000 ‘tags’ – or genetic variants – to just two, which were more common among the lung cancer patients than the healthy people. These genetic variants have previously been implicated in lung cancer risk and roughly half the population carries either one or two copies of each. Current or former smokers who carry one copy of each genetic variant increase their risk of lung cancer by 28 per cent. Current or former smokers with two copies of each variant increase their risk by 80 per cent. People who carry these variants, but have never smoked, are not at increased risk of the disease. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 295 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.

 

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