If you still stick to a hitherto belief that smoking is the only cause for lung cancer, then you may have to bring some change to the same.
According to some scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), a well-known cancer-causing gene is crucial in non-small cell lung cancer. This is the most common of different types of lung cancer.
The research states the fact that the gene is critical in lung cancer tumor growth. A published study in the journal Cancer Research highlights the presence of often-heard oncogene Notch 1.
Both cell and animal studies confirm that after hacking the gene a good reduction in cancer growth was witnessed. So, somehow there is a distinct relation between the two.
The study states that Notch1 triggers initial tumor growth, and the reason behind the same is that it subdues p53, which is a tumor suppressor protein. The genome’s guardian, or p53 protein can recuperate destroyed cells or compels them to stifle through the apoptosis – programmed cell death.
According to Joseph Kissil, a TSRI associate professor who led the study, “While Notch signaling has emerged as an important target in many types of cancer, current methodologies that target that pathway affect all members of the Notch family, and this has been associated with toxicity. We were able to identify Notch 1 as the critical oncogene to target, at least in a common form of lung cancer.”
He added by saying, “If you look at lung cancer patient populations, Notch signaling alone isn’t a prognostic indicator, but if you look at p53-positive patients it is.”
The study is also supposed to aid in therapeutic strategies for a group of patients, who are under one umbrella of non-small cell lung cancer cases.
So, it’s not only smoking, as common man recognizes it, there are a montage of factors responsible for lung cancer.
