PHILADELPHIA, Jul 30, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Exposure to nicotine via smoking
has been linked to a greater risk of aggressive pancreatic cancer, U.S.
researchers say.
The study, published in the journal Surgery, suggests pancreatic ductal
adenocarcinoma will more likely become metastatic when there is a history of
smoking because a variant of the protein osteopontin linked to cancer growth --
called OPNc -- may be promoted by nicotine.
The researchers found OPNc expression on 87 percent of the invasive cancer
lesions analyzed -- of which 73 percent were from smokers. The OPNc expression
also correlated with higher expression levels of osteopontin. Premalignant
lesions expressed no OPNc.
"This is the first time a relationship between nicotine and OPNc expression has
been identified," study leader Dr. Hwyda Arafat of the Jefferson Medical College
of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia says in a statement. "These data
are very exciting because now we can evaluate OPNc as a prognostic and
diagnostic marker of invasive PDA lesions."
The exact role of OPNc in advancing pancreatic cancer, Arafat says, remains to
be defined, but it could provide a unique potential target to control pancreatic
cancer aggressiveness -- especially in people who smoke cigarettes.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International