Washington, 3 Apr ( EFE).-the estrogen can contribute to lung cancer to intensify the effects of tobacco smoke, according to research presented today at the annual meeting of the American Association of cancer research.
The discovery of scientists at Duke University and the Fox investigation of Cancer Center in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA)(UU.) They point to the possibility of new therapies targeting this hormone metabolism.
“This research provides the link between estrogen and tobacco smoke,” said Jing Peng, a graduate of the Nankai University of China who is co-author of the article and works in the laboratory of Margie Clapper in Fox.
Researchers found that estrogen is metabolized in toxic derivatives in the lungs of laboratory mice. The level of these toxic metabolites increased when he was exposed to rodents to tobacco smoke.
, The results suggests that, someday, new therapies that prevent estrogen make toxins and help in the treatment, or even the prevention of lung cancer.
“In the future would like to focus on the paths of metabolization of estrogen as a form of prevention of lung cancer,” said Peng.
Scientists have known for a long time that tobacco smoke is the major cause of lung cancer. But recent discoveries suggest that estrogen could also play a role in this disease.
Peng and his colleagues examined the lungs of healthy mice and found that they contained high levels of estrogen metabolites, known as 4-hydroxy-estrogen and are carcinogenic.
Specifically these hidróxi-estrogens help to activate processes that promote cell growth and generate free radicals that damage cells.
When the researchers, including EunRan Hus, Korea in the South and Ekaterina Shatalova, Russia, exposed mice to tobacco smoke eight weeks they found increases in those hydroxy-estrogen levels.
“We believe that these metabolites of estrogen can damage cells and contribute to lung cancer,” said Clapper.
Fairy-wrens exposed to tobacco presented the double of hydroxy-estrogen in their lungs compared with mice, noted the authors.
The discovery of scientists at Duke University and the Fox investigation of Cancer Center in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA)(UU.) They point to the possibility of new therapies targeting this hormone metabolism. EFE/file
