Mediplacements - Lung cancer tumours 'differ in smokers and never smokers'

Lung cancer tumours 'differ in smokers and never smokers'

Thursday 7th July 2011

Researchers in cardiac jobs have discovered that there are distinctive differences in the nature of lung cancer tumours developed in patients who have never smoked, compared to those who have.

Different patterns of genetic alterations between the two groups suggest that the diseases are driven by different molecular mechanisms, according to scientists from the BC Cancer Agency Research Centre in Vancouver, which "may require different treatments".

The findings could prove hugely significant for the treatment of lung cancer, which is the world's most prevalent form of the disease, with more than 1.6 million new cases diagnosed globally every year, according to figures from Cancer Research UK.

Lung cancer occurs in people who have never smoked in around 25 per cent of cases. Non-smokers that develop the disease are more often women, Asian and have a higher incidence of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.

Kelsie Thu, principal investigator in the study, which was presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, explained: "Our study was a comparative study, meaning that we compared the lung tumor genomes from smokers to those from never smokers to identify genetic (DNA level) alterations specific to one group or the other."

One of the major hurdles faced by hospital doctors and those in cardiac jobs is the ability to diagnose lung cancer early enough to successfully intervene.

Traditional chest x-rays used to screen patients for lung cancer are prone to false positive results, which can result in more invasive procedures at higher costs to the healthcare system to confirm the diagnosis.

However, developers of a new 3D imaging system are hopeful that it could be used to improve the utility of standard CT screening for the disease.

Although only in its early stages of use, researchers at VisonGAte, which has developed the new non-invasive test process, believe that it could be used to help detect lung cancer earlier in high risk individuals, such as smokers.

This could help to establish the course of treatment required earlier, giving doctors a better chance of successful intervention.

Written by Mathew Horton ADNFCR-1780-ID-800614569-ADNFCR