Recent studies done by Canadian researchers found that lung cancer in smokers could be a different disease than that found in non-smokers.
Kelsie Thu, a researcher at the BC Cancer Research Center in Vancouver, Canada, and her colleagues found that DNA alterations to genomes of lung cancer tumors, in people who smoked, were quite different from those who never smoked.
The researchers found that both groups of people had DNA mutations, for example in the region that codes for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which are typical, but there were twice as many DNA alterations in the non-smokers, surprisingly.
Kelsie Thu said in a media statement that, "A better understanding of the biology underlying lung cancer development will lead to improved detection and therapeutic strategies, and ultimately, will result in improved patient prognosis."
I think that this study shows, well, if the non-smokers had twice as many DNA mutations from those who smoked, than the smokers brought the cancer upon themselves. I feel like that the if the smokers had never touched "the" cigarette, then they could've avoided the cancer at all. I also feel that if the non -smokers developed cancer, then I feel like it is through no fault of their own. May be it was genetic or environmental or both, but whatever it was, it made them more prone to developing lung cancer.
That fact that non-smokers had double as many DNA mutations definitely surprised me. I agree with your thoughts about how the ones who smoke brought the cancer upon themselves. They began with less DNA mutations than non-smokers but still ended up with the cancer because they chose to smoke. This is unfortunate for the non-smokers who developed the cancer because it wasn't their fault that they had the high amount of DNA mutations. It would be interesting to know whether the DNA mutations in non-smokers were caused by genetic or environmental factors.
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