Special form of lung cancer in smokers

Special form of lung cancer in smokers: smokers and non-smokers suffer from different forms of lung cancer.

The form of lung cancer caused by smoking differs from the rarer tumor variant, which also occurs in non-smokers. An international team of researchers at the British Columbia Cancer Research Center in Vancouver has found this out, fueling hopes for new approaches to diagnosis and treatment.

Lung cancer is different in smokers and non-smokers
It has long been clear that the lung cancer risk from smoking increases significantly. On cigarette packets, for example, smoking can cause cancer. The fact that the form of lung cancer differs in non-smokers and smokers, but so far was only a hypothesis. For example, researchers have found evidence in various studies that lung tumors in non-smokers have specific genetic characteristics, but the difference can not yet clearly scientifically substantiate. However, scientists at the British Columbia Cancer Research Center have now succeeded in proving that there are significant differences in cancer among non-smokers and smokers.

Altered DNA sections can cause lung cancer
In the study, the international research team examined 83 people with lung cancer, of whom 39 were smokers, 14 were former smokers and 30 were non-smokers. The scientists were particularly interested in the genetic information of the subjects, which are in the possible context of tumor formation. The researchers compared the DNA from the cancer cells of the patient groups on the one hand and on the other hand with the genetic information of healthy cells of the respective participant. They found that the tumor cells of non-smokers had significantly more altered DNA sections than smokers.

Consider lung cancer in non-smokers separately
According to the researchers of the British Columbia Cancer Research Center´s concluded that the development of lung cancer in non-smokers is due to the sum of many different DNA alterations. In contrast, smokers' tumor formation is triggered by exposure to carcinogenic substances of tobacco smoke, with the smoke causing few but dramatic changes that directly lead to cancer. Therefore, should „Lung cancer in non-smokers (...) can be considered as a separate group“, emphasized Kelsie Thu at the presentation of the study results at the annual conference of the American Society for Cancer Research in Philadelphia.

46,000 new cases annually in Germany
For example, the main cause of the around 46,000 new cases in Germany every year is inhaled tobacco smoke. However, the study of non-smoking bronchial carcinomas has shown that certain forms of lung cancer are dominated by genetic factors rather than tobacco consumption. The scientists want to use this knowledge to detect lung cancer in the future for non-smokers. And the development of special treatment methods for this form of bronchial carcinoma is also a declared goal of the researchers. „Close examination of the differences between the two types of lung cancer could lead to finding molecular starting points for early diagnosis and successful treatment“, emphasized Kelsie Thu. Because

Bronchial carcinoma is one of the most common cancers
With 25 percent of all malignancies (malignancies), bronchial carcinomas are one of the most common cancers worldwide (the most common in men). In Germany, about 46,000 people fall ill each year and about 40,000 die from the consequences of the disease. The ratio of sick men to women is about 3 to 1, with bronchial carcinomas accounting for 60 percent of women, 90 percent of men having active cigarette smoking, and genetically determined tumors accounting for a correspondingly low proportion, according to the Robert Koch Institute among the cancers. The average 5-year survival rate (that is, how many sufferers are still alive after five years) is only five percent. Only if the lung cancer is discovered early, results according to the American Cancer Society, a much higher survival rate, which is then around 47 percent. (fp, 09.11.2010)

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Picture credits: Thorsten Freyer