Scientists pin down cancer culprit in cigarette smoke

It has long been known that smoking causes lung cancer, but a new study is the first to show that the hydrogen peroxide in cigarette...

It has long been known that smoking causes lung cancer, but a new study is the first to show that the hydrogen peroxide in cigarette smoke is what actually causes healthy lung cells to turn cancerous.

Researchers from the University of California, US, said their findings may help lead to new treatments for lung cancer and may help the tobacco industry develop “safer” cigarettes by eliminating such substances in the smoke.

In the study, researchers exposed different sets of human lung cells to cigarette smoke or hydrogen peroxide and then incubated the cells for one to two days. The cells were then compared to unexposed airway cells. The cells exposed to cigarette smoke and those exposed to hydrogen peroxide showed the same molecular signatures of cancer.

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The findings are published in the FASEB Journal, published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. “These experiments not only pinpoint new molecular targets for cancer treatment, but also identify culprits in smoke that eventually will do the smoker in,” said Dr Gerald Weissmann, the journal’s editor-in-chief.

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, including 43 that are know to cause cancer.

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