Experts identify gene variants linked to lung cancer

[The Straight Story]

Experts identify gene variants linked to lung cancer
Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:59pm GMT


HONG KONG (Reuters) - Researchers in China and the United States have identified mutations of two genes which appear to make ethnic Chinese more susceptible to lung cancer, they wrote in the journal Cancer.

Their finding involves two genes, ABCB1 and ABCC1, which were previously thought to be linked to eliminating carcinogens from the lungs and protecting them against inhaled toxins.

In their study, the researchers analyzed the genes of 500 patients with lung cancer and 517 cancer-free participants in southeastern China.

"The investigators found that certain (gene) variants were found much more often in individuals with lung cancer than in cancer-free controls," they wrote in a statement.

Among those with cancer, 31 percent were found with a certain mutation of the ABCB1 gene, while 27 percent were found with a variant of the ABCC1 gene.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKTRE4BL0C820081222

[eridani]

1. Wonderful. Another pre-existing condition for insurance companies to fuck us over with n/t

[Quantess]

2. Interesting.

I wonder if this gene is common in people who are not of Chinese descent...