PARIS - Scientists said Saturday they have identified the mechanism through which air pollution triggers lung cancer in non-smokers, a discovery one expert hailed as"an important step for science - and for society".
Dr Swanton presented the research, which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, at the European Society for Medical Oncology's annual conference in Paris. Traditionally, it has been thought that exposure to carcinogens, such as those in cigarette smoke or pollution, causes DNA mutations that then become cancer.
Finally, they analysed nearly 250 samples of human lung tissue never exposed to carcinogens from smoking or heavy pollution. Even though the lungs were healthy, they found DNA mutations in 18 per cent of EGFR genes and 33 per cent of KRAS genes."On their own, they probably are insufficient to drive cancer," he said. But when a cell is exposed to pollution, it can trigger a"wound-healing response" that causes inflammation, Dr Swanton said.
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