Lung cancers in non-smokers could be a result of natural processes, NIH study ...

Lung cancers in non-smokers could be a result of natural processes, NIH study ...
Lung cancers in non-smokers could be a result of natural processes, NIH study ...

Non-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer may develop the condition due to natural processes in their bodies, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), analyzed the genetic signatures of cancer tumors in 232 never-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer - finding that these tumors were markedly different from those in smokers.

This finding contradicts past research, which had suggested non-smokers develop lung cancer after exposure to second-hand smoke or other pollutants - though the researchers say these toxins may still drive cancer development in some patients.

More research is needed to classify different lung cancer subtypes and develop treatments catering to never-smoker patients.

Non-smokers could develop lung cancer because of natural processes in their bodies, not secondhand smoke, a new study suggests

Non-smokers could develop lung cancer because of natural processes in their bodies, not secondhand smoke, a new study suggests

Lung cancer patients who smoked are more likely to have 'forte' tumors - which grow quickly - while never-smokers are more likely to have 'piano' tumors - which develop more slowly

Lung cancer patients who smoked are more likely to have 'forte' tumors - which grow quickly - while never-smokers are more likely to have 'piano' tumors - which develop more slowly

Over two million people are diagnosed with lung cancer globally each year - including over 200,000 in the U.S.

This cancer causes more deaths than any other, with an estimated 1.8 million deaths globally every year.

For every 100,000 people in the U.S. about 54 new lung cancer cases are reported and 35 people die of this cancer each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lung cancer is typically connected to smoking, but doctors are increasingly seeing cases among people who don't smoke.

These patients now make up about 10 to 20 percent of those diagnosed with lung cancer. Non-smoker patients tend to be younger and are more often women.

Previous research has suggested that non-smokers may develop lung cancer because they're exposed to secondhand smoke or other toxins, such as asbestos and air pollution.

But a new study - analyzing the tumors of lung cancer patients with no smoking history - finds that this cancer may in fact be a new subtype, caused by natural processes in the body.

'What we're seeing is that there are different subtypes of lung cancer in never smokers that have distinct molecular characteristics and evolutionary processes,' said Dr Maria Teresa Landi, lead author on the study and an epidemiologist at the NCI's Division Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics.

'In the future we may be able to have different treatments based on these subtypes,' 

The NCI collaborated with researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - also part of the NIH - and other institutions. 

The study was published Monday in Nature Genetics.

The researchers analyzed the genetic makeup of tumors from 232 never-smokers diagnosed

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