In-depth genetic research gives new insight into how smoking is capable of causing cancer in such a wide array of organs. The study provides a link between the number of cigarettes smoked and the number of mutations in tumor DNA.
The negative health consequences of smoking are well known and have been heavily studied.
An estimated 6 million people die each year due to smoking-related illnesses.
If trends continue, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there will be 1 billion tobacco-related deaths this century.
Smoking is known to cause irreparable damage in a variety of organs. It sparks mutations in DNA via a number of mechanisms.
However, it has not been clear how cancer generates so many different types of cancers in disparate body parts. To date, smoking has been associated with 17 types of cancer, but the genetic mechanisms behind this have remained hidden.
Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and King's College London in the United Kingdom and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, recently undertook a deep dive into the genetics of smoking-related cancers. Their results are published this week in the journal Science.
In the most detailed investigation of its type, scientists delved into the the DNA of 5,000 tumors. They compared tumors from nonsmokers with tumors from smokers and examined any genetic differences. The analysis allowed them to understand the molecular fingerprints of smoking-related DNA damage.
The researchers were able to study these mutational signatures and count the number of mutations in each tumor.
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