Can nicotine trigger uncontrolled cell division ?

A team of Icedlandic deCODE Genetics have carried out one of the largest studies which suggests that some people may carry a genetic variant which makes them more likely to be addicted to tobacco once they start smoking.

They concluded that this would make smokers and ex smokers more susceptible to lung cancer because "nicotine triggers uncontrolled cell divisiion assocation with cancer". Lesley Walker from Cancer Research UK and Professor Chris Amos from the MD Anderson Cancer Centre added that smoking greatly increases the risk of lung cancer - causing 9 out of 10 cases of the disease. They also pointed out that what the research suggests is that some smokers are actually even more vulnerable to lung cancer because of their genetic profile.

Edith Maskell of Bromley Health Management commented "Whilst I think this study is very interesting and obviously can't be ignored, we should perhaps also keep in mind that the desire to smoke has many roots, including emotional and state of mind. So any attempt to attribute the cause of lung cancer is complex.

Additionally, there are a great many carcinogenic materials in tobacco which are not fully understood. Does that fact alone not make it impossible to separate out the specific contributory effects of one poisonous compound against another?"

Source : http://bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/732591/stm

Tuesday, 8 April 2008