The Lung Cancer Blog » April 2008
April 5, 2008
Gene Variant May Cause Nicotine Addiction
Several new studies have found that a common genetic variation that affects how the body responds to nicotine increases the risk of developing lung cancer.
The papers said that people who inherit the variation from one parent have a 30 percent greater chance of getting lung cancer. Those who inherit the variation from both parents face an increased risk of 70 to 80 percent.
Several researchers believe it is not the gene variant itself that causes lung cancer but the fact that the variant appears to cause addiction to nicotine.
Stefansson said the extra cigarettes, not the gene itself, led to lung cancer. His group estimates that the variation was indirectly responsible for 18 percent of lung cancers and 10 percent of cases of peripheral artery disease, which is also linked to smoking.
