Smoking Causes Genetic Damage Linked to Colon Cancer

A report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that smoking cigarettes may cause colon cancer by damaging genes.

Researchers examined tissue samples from more than 1,500 colon cancer patients and compared them to tissue samples from about 2,400 people without colon cancer. They found that the smokers had twice the risk of developing colon tumors with microsatellite instability (MSI). MSI inhibits cells' ability to repair damaged DNA and therefore promotes cancer development.

According to the study, inherited genetic flaws account for 2-5% of colon tumors with MSI. However, MSI shows up in about 10-15% of all colon tumors. This study suggests that genetic damage caused by smoking probably helps explain the difference.

So?

So if you smoke, try to stop. Again. The study showed that the risk of MSI increases the longer a person smokes and the more a person smokes. It also showed that the risk of MSI decreases after a person hasn't smoked for 15 years.

Related Research:

• No Such Thing as a Safe Cigarette… Smoker
  
• Smoking Causes Genetic Damage Linked to Colon Cancer

_{Source: Slattery, Martha L. and Curtin, Karen. "Associations Between Cigarette Smoking, Lifestyle Factors, and Microsatellite Instability in Colon Tumors." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 92.22 (Nov. 2000): 1831-1836. 28 Jun. 2006 [http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/jnci;92/22/1831].}