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Cancer-Linked Epigenetic Effects of Smoking Found
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101009082825.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2010) — For the first time, UK scientists have
reported direct evidence that taking up smoking results in epigenetic
changes associated with the development of cancer.
The results were reported at the 35th Congress of the European Society
for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan, Italy.
The link between smoking and cancer has been established for decades,
explained Dr Yuk Ting Ma from the Cancer Research UK Institute of
Cancer Studies, Birmingham, who presented the results. Smoking is the
single biggest cause of cancer in the world, and years of research
have confirmed that carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke can
damage DNA.
Scientists have also suspected that smoking causes so-called
epigenetic changes, such as methylation, which alter gene expression
without causing changes to the actual DNA sequence.
"Until now, however, there has been no direct evidence that smoking
induces DNA methylation in humans," Dr Ma said. "Cross-sectional
surveys restricted to patients with cancer have revealed that aberrant
methylation of several tumor suppressor genes is associated with
smoking. But such surveys cannot distinguish those epigenetic changes
that are a consequence of the disease process from those which are
directly attributable to smoking."
In a study funded by Cancer Research UK, the British team set out to
clarify the link between smoking and methylation in a cohort of 2,011
healthy young women aged 15-19 who were originally recruited as part
of a study of pre-cancerous changes to cells of the cervix.
"For this particular study we have identified all the women from that
cohort who had normal smears and who also tested negative for human
papillomavirus throughout follow-up," Dr Ma explained. "In this
subgroup of disease-free women we have then tested the cervical smears
of all the women who first started to smoke following study entry for
p16 methylation, and compared them to women who were never smokers."
The researchers selected this group of women to ensure there were no
potential cofounding factors for the detection of p16 methylation in
otherwise healthy young women.
The particular gene the researchers were studying was p16, a so-called
tumor suppressor gene. When it is methylated, this gene's normal
tumor-suppressing function is inactivated.
"DNA methylation is a type of epigenetic change that can result in
tumor suppressor genes being inactivated," said Dr Ma. "Methylation of
p16 has been frequently associated with the development of cancer in
many parts of the body."
Because the women were all taking part in a study of cervical
neoplasia, Dr Ma used cells from cervical smears to test for
methylation of p16. Her group found that women who took up smoking
during the study were more than three times as likely (odds ratio of
3.67) to acquire p16 methylation.
"Our study showed that compared with never-smokers, women who first
started to smoke during follow-up had an increased risk of acquiring
methylation of p16," Dr Ma said. "Our choice of study design and our
study population allowed us to reveal, for the first time, the
relationship between starting to smoke and the subsequent appearance
of an epigenetic change."
The results provide evidence that smoking does induce DNA methylation,
Dr Ma said. "The next step is now to show that women who acquire such
smoking-induced methylation have an increased risk of developing
malignancy."
Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment.
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by
ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by European Society for
Medical Oncology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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