Without a doubt, the safest way to protect yourself against lung cancer is to avoid smoking cigarettes, and yet, at the same time, it’s also true that not all lifelong smokers are doomed to develop cancer.
In fact, the vast majority don’t. Scientists have long wondered why, and a new study adds weight to the idea that genetics has a role to play.
The findings suggest that DNA repair genes are more active among some individuals, which can protect against cancers arising, even when cigarettes are regularly smoked.
According to the authors, the findings “unequivocally demonstrate” that mutations in the human lung increase with natural age, and among smokers, the DNA damage is even more significant.
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“However, the heaviest smokers did not have the highest mutation burden,” says [epidemiologist and pulmonologist Simon] Spivack.
“Our data suggest that these individuals may have survived for so long in spite of their heavy smoking because they managed to suppress further mutation accumulation. This leveling off of mutations could stem from these people having very proficient systems for repairing DNA damage or detoxifying cigarette smoke.”
The findings could help explain why 80 to 90 percent of lifelong smokers never develop lung cancer. It could also help explain why some people who never smoke at all do develop the tumors.
