A rare genetic mutation could put people at a dramatically higher risk of developing lung cancer – even if they’ve never smoked.A rare mutation in the gene EGFR T790M was found to increase lung cancer risk by 25 times compared with people who did not have the mutation, according to a new study published in the journal Science.Among people who had never smoked, carriers of the mutation had about 62 times the odds of lung cancer compared with never-smokers who did not have it.PANCREATIC CANCER VACCINE SHOWS PROMISE IN FIRST HUMAN TRIAL, PREVENTING DISEASE IN HIGH-RISK PATIENTSThe study, led by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and 23andMe Research Institute, analyzed data from more than 3.3 million people.The gene variant showed no increased risk across 17 other cancers studied.A rare genetic mutation could put people at a dramatically higher risk of developing lung cancer – even if they’ve never smoked.(iStock)"Today, lung cancer screening is driven almost entirely by smoking history," study co-author Jaclyn LoPiccolo, M.D., Ph.D., attending physician and lung cancer researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said in a press release.CANCER WARNING SIGNS MAY APPEAR IN DNA YEARS BEFORE BLOOD TESTS DETECT TROUBLE"Our findings raise the possibility that, in the future, screening could also be dictated by inherited genetic risk.
If further studies confirm the benefit, people with EGFR T790M could be identified through genetic testing and offered personalized CT screening to identify lung cancers when they are at their most curable stage."Among people who had never smoked, carriers of the mutation had about 62 times the odds of lung cancer compared with never-smokers who did not have it.(iStock)Most U.S.
carriers of the mutation were traced to a shared ancestry linked to British and Irish settlers in Southern Appalachia about 200–225 years ago, the researchers found.The mutation remains rare nationwide, affecting roughly one in 15,000–16,000 peop...