FOX CHASE (WPVI) — Lung cancer is always a startling diagnosis, but is is even more so when it happens to a non-smoker. But now there are new discoveries on why it happens and how to treat it best.<\/p>\n
Christopher Reeve’s wife Dana had lung cancer, so did Grammy-winning singer Donna Summer. Yet, neither smoked.<\/p>\n
Medical oncologist Nicholas Bodor of Fox Chase Cancer Center says lung cancer among never-smokers is surprisingly common.<\/p>\n
“Anywhere between 10% and 20% of our cases occur in people who have little or no smoking history,” Dr. Bodor says.<\/p>\n
In East Asian countries, a third or more are non-smokers. He says Asian Americans are more vulnerable, as are families with lung cancer histories. Women outnumber men by 2 to 1 and the numbers are growing around the world.<\/p>\n
The symptoms are the same as in smokers: a persistent cough, wheezing, shortness of breath. But the tumors are biologically different.<\/p>\n
For never-smokers: “It’s not the smoking that caused the lung tumor. It’s actually a defect in the lung – a mutation – something they call an oncogene,” Dr. Bodor says.<\/p>\n
Different genetics mean different treatments.<\/p>\n
Immunotherapy works well in smoking-induced tumors, but not genetically-driven ones. Those respond better to targeted drugs, many of them pills taken at home.<\/p>\n
“And many of them are highly effective and generally with minimal to moderate side effects,” he says.<\/p>\n
Because of that, Dr. Bodor says new patients need thorough DNA testing of their tumors to find out what works.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, scientists are still seeking all the triggers for these cancers.<\/p>\n
Secondhand smoke accounts for some and so does high exposure to fine-particle air pollution from traffic and manufacturing.<\/p>\n
Fox Chase is also studying a surprising factor in women: estrogen.<\/p>\n
“Certain individuals who process or metabolize estrogen in such a way that it turns into a toxic or carcinogenic derivative,” Dr. Bodor says.<\/p>\n
With these findings, Fox Chase is now working on new compounds specifically for never-smokers.
<\/p>\n
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