Scientists have long known that air pollution can be linked with an increased risk of lung cancer in people who never smoked, but new research describes one mechanism that might help explain how.
The findings, presented Saturday at the European Society for Medical Oncology Presidential Symposium in Paris, suggest that air pollution can trigger lung cancer in people with no history of smoking because some air pollutant particles may promote changes in cells in the airways.In particular, more exposure to airborne particulate matter or particle pollution -- at 2.
The global fight against air pollution 02:57These mutations in the EGFR and KRAS genes"may very well be the reason that the nonsmoker population ends up getting lung cancer. That's been a question we've had for a number of years: Why is it that individuals, otherwise healthy, with no relationship to secondhand smoke or primary smoking are still developing lung cancer?" Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association, told CNN on Monday.
"This mechanism may be important in other cancers with carcinogens other than air pollution," Smith wrote."The usual invisibility of current air pollution must contribute to us failing to give it the attention it deserves, but the roots of medicine's neglect of air pollution must lie with the intertwined factors of the feeling that there is nothing doctors can do about air pollution and failures of education of doctors," he wrote.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Scientists find air pollution link to lung cancerResearchers have identified a mechanism for how air pollution can trigger lung cancer in people who've never smoked.
Read more »
Air pollution can cause lung cancer in non-smokers, a new study finds.The new research links lunch cancer to two gene mutations derived from pollution.
Read more »
'Hidden Killer': Experts Urge Action After Study Shows How Air Pollution Causes Lung Cancer'Globally, more people are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution than to toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke, and these new data link the importance of addressing climate health to improving human health,' said researcher CharlesSwanton. ESMO22
Read more »
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): Practice Essentials, Background, PathophysiologyLung cancers are generally divided into two main categories: small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC accounts for approximately 85% of all lung cancers.
Read more »
First-Time Dads May Experience Brain Shrinkage, Scientists FindBecoming a new parent is an adjustment for both men and women.
Read more »
Astronomers just discovered a planet that might be able to support lifeScientists believe they may have discovered an inhabitable exoplanet just 100 light-years away from Earth.
Read more »