• More Blogs
• Observations »
• Bering in Mind »
• Cross-check »
• Extinction Countdown »
• Solar at Home »
• Expeditions »
• Guest Blog »
• Anecdotes from the Archive »

Quick to light up despite the potential risks? Take note: there may be a way to rapidly predict your chances of developing lung cancer – and provide yet more incentive to kick the habit. Researchers have discovered that smokers who excrete high levels of two tobacco metabolites (chemicals produced when the body breaks down tobacco) in their urine are up to 8.5 times more likely than those who excrete low levels to develop lung cancer.

"If we can identify a smoker with a high level of metabolites, and down the road they have a higher risk of lung cancer, public health workers can get them motivated to quit smoking,” lead researcher Jian-Min Yuan, a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told Bloomberg News.

Yuan and his team studied the urine chemicals in 491 smokers participating in the Shanghai Cohort Study and the Singapore Chinese Health Study, 246 of whom developed lung cancer during a 10-year follow-up. Suspecting that a tobacco metabolite called 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), which triggers lung cancer in lab animals but whose effect on humans is unknown, would be a good predictor of lung cancer, the scientists divided study subjects into three groups: those with high, medium and low NNAL levels.

They found that smokers with the highest NNAL levels in their urine were twice as likely as those with the lowest amounts to develop lung cancer. When the researchers included a second metabolite called cotinine in their analysis, they found that those with the highest levels of both NNAL and cotinine in their urine were 8.5 times more likely to develop the disease.

A standard urine metabolite test for smokers would probably cost $100 to $120 and take a few years to develop, Yuan told HealthDay News, but he is optimistic that the use of such a test would push at-risk smokers to stop.  

Tobacco use leads to 440,000 deaths in the US every year, according to the American Cancer Society. The org notes that one in four Americans continues to puff away even though smoking is the No. 1 cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.

porcelaingirl° {è un triangolo isoscele} via Flickr

6 Comments

1. 1. scientific earthling 08:17 PM 4/20/09

   246 out of 491 smokers developed lung cancer that is 50.1%. If that is not enough of an incentive to give up smoking no test will.
   
   Withdraw all health benefits from people who choose to smoke. Allow health insurance groups to deny insurance to smokers.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. cyberscientist 10:34 AM 4/22/09

   The numbers appear to send an incorrect message as seen from the above comment. In the original abstract it is clearly a nested case control study from 2 cohorts of 18,244 men and 63,257 Chinese men. What this means is that 246 cases of incident lung cancer cases and 245 matched controls were selected for this study and not ' 50.1% developed lung cancer'.
   However, what is really very important is that smokers must keep in mind that lung cancer is not the only cancer caused by smoking, and therefore getting a clean chit by this test in no way is going to reduce the risk of all other smoking related cancers. cardivascular diseases or other health risks. Not to lulled into complacencence even if their individual NNAL levels are low, as this can still not lead to any certainity that on an individual level they will be at a low risk if the .
   So the only way to cut down risk is to quit smoking.
   

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. cocojambo 03:07 AM 7/2/09

   The benefits of quitting smoking far outweigh the reasons to NOT stop smoking, in fact check this list of improvements you should expect to see in your physical/mental health if you quit smoking
   
   If You Already Have Lung Cancer
   
   If you already have lung cancer, it is best advised to stop smoking immediately. When you quit smoking, here are the benefits you achieve over time:
   
   After 20 minutes - Your blood pressure will drop and heart rate beats will increase.
   
   After 12 hours - The amount of Carbon Monoxide in your blood system drops to normal level.
   
   After 2 weeks - 3 months - Lung function and circulation of blood from lungs to other organs of the body improves significantly.
   
   After 1 - 9 Months - Shortness of breath & coughing decrease, functions of Cilia (small hair-like substances that get rid of Mucus from the lungs) become normal, your lungs become cleaner, and your risk of catching infections decreases.
   
   After 1 year - Risk of Coronary heart diseases drops by 50%
   
   After 5 years - Risk of Strokes drops to that of a non-smoker who quit smoking 5-15 years ago.
   
   After 10 years - Risk of lung cancer death drops by 50% as well risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, pancreas or Bladder cancer also drops.
   
   After 15 years - Risk of coronary heart diseases becomes that of a non-smoker.
   Source: http://www.researchmalignantmesothelioma.com

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. 4. phadrus 03:26 AM 11/30/09

   Three kinds of lies "Lies, d*** lies, and statistics" (forgot who said it) Stop throwing conflicting numbers around and taking everything at face value. The numbers don't add up.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

5. 5. lungcancer 09:26 PM 1/23/11

   
   Smoking is the most important known risk factor for the development of lung cancer. Tobacco exposure results in chronic inflammation, tissue injury, and repair.
   <a href="http://www.mylungcancerguide.com/">Lung Cancer Prognosis</a>

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

6. 6. lungcancer 09:27 PM 1/23/11

   Smoking is the most important known risk factor for the development of lung cancer. Tobacco exposure results in chronic inflammation, tissue injury, and repair.
   http://www.mylungcancerguide.com/

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this