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How air pollution causes lung cancer — without harming DNA

Studies in mice suggest that tumour growth is triggered by inflammation caused by tiny particles, rather than genetic mutations.
  1. Heidi Ledford
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Air pollution could cause lung cancer not by mutating DNA, but by creating an inflamed environment that encourages proliferation of cells with existing cancer-driving mutations, according to a sweeping study of human health data and experiments in laboratory mice.

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Nature 616, 419-420 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00989-z

Read the related News & Views: ‘Air pollution’s role in the promotion of lung cancer’.

References

  1. Hill, W. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05874-3 (2023).

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  2. Martincorena, I. et al. Science 348, 880-886 (2015).

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  3. Riva, L. et al. Nature Genet. 52, 1189–1197 (2020).

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