Smoke-related lung cancer shows racial diversities

Smoke-related lung cancer shows racial diversities

WASHINGTON - Blacks are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer as a result of smoking rather than whites, a new study has found. This large study gives a fresh perspective on whether race plays an important part in the development of lung cancer.

The study, conducted over a period of eight years, involved 183,000 people. It found that blacks and Hawaiians are 55 percent more likely than whites to develop smoking related lung cancer. But the researchers found that Japanese Americans and Latinos were 50 percent less likely than whites to develop lung cancer. The researchers from Universities of Southern California and Hawaii said that the average age of the people in the study was 60.

"We observed quite striking differences," said lead researcher Christopher Haiman of the USC. "This suggests there are racial and ethnic differences in the smoking-related risk of lung cancer." The study, published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, will also serve to reignite the debate whether treatment of certain diseases should be tailor made for racial and ethnic considerations.

The reason why smoking-related lung cancer seems to favor blacks is a mystery, "We know there are genes that are shared across populations, but they have different frequencies which could make some populations more susceptible to the effects of tobacco smoke. But it's most likely due to combinations of unmeasured environmental factors as well as genetic differences," said Haiman, adding that the intensity and depth of smoking, plus the way the population metabolizes nicotine could play a role in the genesis of lung cancer.

The study concluded by saying that many environmental factors could be involved, but also said that blacks could be genetically predisposed to react in this way t the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke.