By Charlotte King
According to Cancer Research UK, 22 per cent of all cancer deaths are from lung cancer. But it is not just smokers who have a risk of getting the disease.
Underperforming gene in 30 per cent of non-smokers
New research shows putting a fag out does not necessarily protect against lung cancer. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic, Arizona, have found that about 30 per cent of patients who have never smoked but developed lung cancer had the same uncommon variant residing in a gene known as GPC5. The variant means the gene is ‘underperforming’.
Little is known about this GPC5 gene, except that it can be over-expressed in multiple sclerosis, and alterations in the part of the genome where GPC5 is located are common in a wide variety of human tumours. The researchers think the gene variation is a cancer-trigger in the 1/3 of never-smokers with lung cancer, but something else is causing the lung cancer in the other 2/3.
A bad gene
So it does not seem to be a good gene: “This is the first gene that has been found that is specifically associated with lung cancer in people who have never smoked,” says the study’s lead investigator, Dr Ping Yang, a genetic epidemiologist.
Genetic test in future
Yang also said it is highly likely there could be a standard genetic test in future to look for the variant of the GPC5 gene to monitor for lung cancer more carefully if a person has the dodgy variant.
The researchers’ next steps will be to identify any functional changes, such as in the lung, caused by the DNA variations, and define the way to intervene or develop drug targets. Also further studies are needed to confirm or refute whether the gene is linked to the prevalence of other diseases.
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