A recent report from the Robert Koch Institute reveals that approximately 59,700 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in Germany every year. The number of hospitalizations due to lung cancer has increased significantly over the past two decades. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, with around 85% of patients who die from bronchial carcinoma being smokers. However, there are some smokers who do not develop lung cancer despite years of tobacco use. A new study suggests that a specific gene may play a crucial role in this phenomenon.
The study involved 33 participants, including 14 non-smokers aged between 11 and 86 years and the remaining moderate to heavy smokers aged between 44 and 81 years. The researchers took samples of lung tissue from the participants and analyzed them for mutations using a novel method that allows for the analysis of cells with rare and random mutations. The results showed that mutations accumulate in lung cells with age, regardless of smoking status. However, the number of mutations increased linearly with the number of years of smoking a pack of cigarettes per day.
Dr. Simon Spivack, co-senior author of the study and professor of medicine, epidemiology, population health, and genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, suggests that the bronchi pose the greatest risk of mutation over time. This could be due to genetic predisposition or risk factors such as smoking. The study also found that after 23 years of smoking a pack of cigarettes per day, the increase in cell mutations plateaued. Dr. Spivack believes that this may be due to the activation of genes responsible for DNA repair in some smokers, which could explain why some smokers do not develop lung cancer despite years of tobacco use.
The researchers plan to use the results of their study to further explore the ability of DNA repair and its role in cancer development. They believe that their research could lead to a better understanding of cancer development and help with the prevention and early detection of lung cancer. Despite the findings, smoking remains a significant risk factor for lung cancer, and quitting smoking is the best way to reduce the risk of developing the disease.
