New Study Reveals How a Common De-Stressing Habit Causes Cancer and Makes it Harder to Treat

Many individuals turn to tobacco for various reasons, such as stress relief, pleasure, or social interactions. Nicotine, the primary addictive component in cigarettes and tobacco products, exerts its influence on multiple aspects of the body, including the brain.

Over time, the body and brain acclimate to nicotine’s presence, with approximately 80-90% of regular smokers developing a dependence on nicotine.

Nicotine swiftly reaches the brain, typically within 10 seconds of entering the body. It triggers the release of adrenaline, resulting in a brief sensation of pleasure and increased energy.

However, this sensation diminishes rapidly, often leaving individuals feeling fatigued or somewhat down, prompting a desire for that initial buzz.

The human body can develop a substantial tolerance to nicotine, necessitating an increase in the number of cigarettes smoked to achieve the same pleasurable effect. This cycle of highs and lows becomes a recurring pattern, eventually culminating in addiction.

But the narrative does not conclude here. A recent study provides compelling evidence of “the immense damage smoking has on our bodies,” and “stopping smoking is always the right choice.”

Scientists at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) have unveiled a novel mechanism through which tobacco smoking not only triggers cancer but also hampers the body’s inherent cancer-fighting defenses.

Can Smoking Really Deactivate Your Proteins?

Their groundbreaking study, published in Science Advances, establishes a link between tobacco smoking and detrimental alterations in DNA known as ‘stop-gain mutations,’ which instruct the body to halt the production of specific proteins before they are fully formed.

Remarkably, these stop-gain mutations are most prevalent in genes recognized as ‘tumor-suppressors,’ responsible for generating proteins that typically prevent the unchecked growth of abnormal cells.

According to Nina Adler, a University of Toronto Ph.D. student who spearheaded the study during her postgraduate research at OICR under the guidance of Dr. Jüri Reimand, “Our study showed that smoking is associated with changes to DNA that disrupt the formation of tumor suppressors. Without them, abnormal cells are allowed to keep growing unchecked by the cell’s defenses and cancer can develop more easily.”

How Does Smoking Affect Genes?

Adler, Reimand, and their team used advanced computational tools to scrutinize DNA from over 12,000 tumor samples spanning 18 different cancer types. Their analysis unveiled a strong link between stop-gain mutations in lung cancer and the distinct ‘footprint’ left in DNA by smoking.

Furthermore, they investigated whether the quantity of smoking had a bearing on these mutations. Notably, their findings indicated that increased smoking correlated with a higher incidence of these harmful mutations, ultimately rendering cancer more intricate and resistant to treatment.

Dr. Reimand, an OICR Investigator and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, emphasized, “Tobacco does a lot of damage to our DNA, and that can have a major impact on the function of our cells. Our study highlights how tobacco smoking actually deactivates critical proteins, which are the building blocks of our cells, and the impact that can have on our long-term health.”

The study also identified other factors and processes responsible for generating a substantial number of stop-gain mutations, also referred to as ‘nonsense’ mutations. Some of these, such as a group of enzymes known as APOBEC, strongly linked to stop-gain mutations in breast cancer and other cancer types, occur naturally within the body.

Meanwhile, factors like an unhealthy diet and alcohol consumption may similarly inflict damage on DNA, though further research is needed to comprehensively grasp these mechanisms.

In the context of smoking, Adler underscores the significance of this study in elucidating one of the molecular pathways by which smoking leads to cancer.

Adler added, “Everyone knows that smoking can cause cancer, but being able to explain one of the ways this works at a molecular level is an important step in understanding how our lifestyle affects our risk of cancer.”

Dr. Laszlo Radvanyi, President and Scientific Director of OICR, emphasizes that these recent findings underscore the fact that tobacco smoking constitutes one of the most significant dangers to our well-being.

“This is further proof of the immense damage smoking has on our bodies, and further evidence that stopping smoking is always the right choice.”

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