A cluster of gene variants on chromosome 15 associated with lung cancer risk also appear to affect risk for nicotine dependence, epidemiologists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report.
Three independent genome-wide association studies previously identified single nucleotide polymorphisms strongly associated with risk of lung cancer, Dr. Margaret R. Spitz and colleagues explain in the November 5 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
"The region of interest," they write, "encompasses the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit genes CHRNA3 and CHRNA5 (as well as CHRNB4), which have a defined role in nicotine dependence and have been hypothesized to have a direct role in downstream signaling pathways that promote carcinogenesis."
For full story: Reuters, 2008-10-28
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