Diseases
Genetic variations linked to increased lung cancer risk
By Sue Mueller
Apr 2, 2008 - 3:21:50 PM

WEDNESDAY April 2, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Three studies in the Journals Nature and Nature Genetics showed a specific genetic variation is associated with increased risk of lung cancer.

But there is disagreement on how the gene variants affect the cancer risk.  The gene of concern is on chromosome 15.

Researchers found smokers who had two copies of the variation from both parents were 80 percent more likely to have lung cancer while those who had one copy were 30 percent more likely to have the disease compared to those who did not carry the variation.

But the authors caution that smoking is far riskier than a genetic predisposition in developing lung cancer.

The genetic variants seem related to genes that control receptors that bind nicotine and acetylcholine, affecting nicotine addition.

A scientist affiliated with foodconsumer.org said people should pay more attention to how they can quit smoking.  Gene studies could give people a sense of fatalism and discourage them from taking proactive measures to prevent lung cancer from developing.