PharmaSentry reports on the European PRNewswire:
Today scientists from deCODE genetics and their colleagues from several universities report in the journal Nature a clear link between a single-letter variant in the sequence of the human genome (SNP) and susceptibility to nicotine dependence. Moreover, in part because of this impact on smoking behavior, each copy of the risk variant of this SNP confers an approximately 30% increase in risk of lung cancer and a 20% increase in risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a common and debilitating constriction of the arteries to the legs.
Roughly half of people of European descent carry at least one copy of the variant, which the deCODE team estimates to account for some 18% of lung cancers and 10% of cases of PAD. These are also perhaps the highest-impact risk factors yet found for either condition. deCODE aims to apply these findings in the development of a DNA- based test which can be used to aid in personalizing and increasing the effectiveness of smoking cessation efforts, and of predicting risk of lung cancer and PAD.
