Why smoking adds to pancreatic-cancer risk

EAST LANSING, Mich., March 9 It's the chemicals formed by burning tobacco -- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- that contribute to pancreatic cancer, a U.S. study says.

The PAH chemicals are related to the multi-stage, multi-mechanism process of cancer development, James Trosko, a professor of pediatrics and human development, said in a statement. The chemical does not mutate the stem cell, but triggers a previously mutated stem cell to proliferate, he said.

This finding has major implications, including the possibility that dietary intervention might interrupt or even reverse the promotion of pancreatic cancers, Trosko said. Most scientists had thought that specific PAHs produced by burning tobacco mutated genes that, in turn, triggered the cancer mechanism, according to the study published in the International Journal of Cancer.

We take issue with this interpretation, Trosko said. We don't believe that the PAH chemicals cause mutations which then lead to cancer.PAHs are common in modern life. When you grill a steak or a hamburger, for example, you are exposed to the same chemicals as smoking.

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