A scientist has identified the mechanism through which air pollution triggers lung cancer in people who do not smoke. He described this as “an important step for science and society”.
The study has emphasized the health risks associated with the tiny particles produced. When fossil fuels burned, prompting a renewed call for more urgent action.
The Francis Crick Institute’s Charles Swanton believes it could also pave the way for new cancer prevention techniques.
The researchers presented their findings at the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Paris. Which has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
People without a smoking history have long been suspected of being at a higher risk of lung cancer due to air pollution.
AFP quoted Swanton as saying that we were unsure whether pollution causes lung cancer directly or indirectly.
Traditionally, carcinogens, such as those found in cigarette smoke and pollution. It believed to cause DNA mutations that caused cancer.
However, Swanton said there was an “inconvenient truth” with this model: previous research has shown that DNA mutations can exist without causing cancer — and that many environmental carcinogens do not cause mutations.
The model he proposes is different from that of his study.
More than 460,000 health data were obtained from English, South Korean, and Taiwanese residents by researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and University College London.
The study found that PM2.5 pollution particles, which measure less than 2.5 microns across, increased the likelihood of EGFR gene mutations.
No evidence of Lung cancer found in smooking
Researchers found that the particles affected EGFR and KRAS genes, both of which associated with lung cancer, in mice.
Finally, nearly 250 samples of human lung tissue showed no evidence of carcinogen exposure from smoking or heavy pollution.
It found that 18 percent of EGFR genes and 33 percent of KRAS genes mutated in the lungs, despite the fact that the lungs healthy.
Swanton said, “They just sit there, waiting for someone to do something with them.” The mutations seem to increase with age, Swanton said.
His statement was that they probably aren’t sufficient to cause cancer on their own.
