Clue to lung cancer detected

[The Straight Story]

Boston University researchers have identified a biochemical pathway in cells lining the airways of smokers whose activity rises before lung cancer develops, making it a potential target for an early detection test and possible treatment.

Writing in today's ScienceTranslational Medicine, Dr. Avrum Spira and his colleagues from the BU School of Medicine and the University of Utah say they had already shown that a particular sequence of genetic activity, called the PI3K pathway, is heightened in patients with lung cancer. Their new findings suggest that this activity precedes tumor formation.

Lung cancer, which is the most common fatal cancer, is usually diagnosed in its later stages when treatment is less effective. Scientists have been searching for a way to determine who among the 10 to 20 percent of smokers and former smokers will go on to develop lung cancer so they can perhaps be followed more closely and their cancers caught earlier.

Spira's team analyzed cell samples taken from 200 patients in Boston and Salt Lake City who were being evaluated for lung disease. People who had higher levels of PI3K activity were more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than people with normal levels.


http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2010/04/clue_to_lung_ca.html

[joeybee12]

1. Here's a novel idea...give up smoking...

...are these guys going to follow the smokers around to chek for emphasyma, heart disease and everything else that goes with smoking?

[WeDidIt]

2. Smokers aren't the only people who get lung cancer. n/t

[Demeter]

3. My Mother Gave Up Smoking When She Died of Cancer

they cured the lung cancer, but it moved to the brain. She was a true addict. It's been 11.5 years, and I still miss her. She lost 30 years off her life expectancy based on our genetics due to smoking.

What good would this test do? It wouldn't have stopped her addiction. People with emphysema on oxygen tanks are known to sneak drags. It is the addiction that must be cured--then we can say we are making progress.

[Bluebear]

4. Awful, horrible addiction.

I'm sorry about Mom. I understand the addiction, having once been there. It is indeed powerful.

[demosincebirth]

5. Great idea!

[KT2000]

6. You may be interested to know

that a certain chemical called BCME causes lung cancer with a very short latency period.
This chemical is formed in the atmosphere when formaldehyde and chlorine ions mix. It is known to cause small cell lung cancer, the most common kind in women.
Think about that - formaldehyde is ubiquitous, especially in homes due to the building materials and textile products. Chlorine is also used in the home - mostly by women.

Yes - smoking and tobacco research has received lots of money and other environmental sources of illnesses have received close to none. We need to insist upon research of the many other chemicals, especially mixtures because some of those may be causing even more problems than smoking.