AS IF there weren't enough data to convince the most sceptical of smokers, a new study published in Science, has found that DNA changes in the lung cells of smokers show that smoking increases cancer risk by increasing the somatic mutation load.
Tobacco carcinogens can misreplicate DNA, the mutations leading to a range of possible cancers in the human body, with each mutation leaving a mutational signature.
More than 30 different base substitution signatures have been identified, and in the new work, 5,243 cancer genome sequences were examined.
The study demonstrated that a smoker using a packet of 20 cigarettes per day would induce an average of 150 mutations in every lung cell each year.
The changes leave a permanent signature, even if the individual ceases smoking, authors said.
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