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Could chest X-rays (or Pu inhalation?) protect from lung cancer afterquitting smoking?





The following story appeared regarding a chemo-prevention diet used to prevent
lung tumors in mice exposed to tobacco smoke AFTER smoke cessation.  Does anyone
know of similar studies conducted using low-dose total body irradiation as the
post-exposure "therapy" used to suppress the development of lung tumors?  If
this were to be the case, a series of chest x-rays after you quit smoking may be
just what the doctor ordered!  What about low doses of alpha emitters (radon
daughters) delivered to the lungs?  I found it interesting that  "Lung cancer
rates actually increase in men and women who have just quit smoking."  Any
comments?  If this type of study using radiation hasn't been done yet, it may be
an interesting (and relatively low-cost) research project...

Ernesto Faillace CHP
efaillace@earthlink.net

Diet protects mice from smoking-related lung tumors
NEW YORK, May 04 (Reuters Health) - A "chemoprevention" diet given to mice
exposed to heavy tobacco smoke has shown to be highly effective in preventing
the development of lung tumors, researchers at the University of California,
Davis, report.
Their study findings indicate that a combined regimen of myoinosital (derived
from cereal brans) and dexamethasone (a corticosteroid drug) was successful in
protecting mice even after they had been returned to fresh air.
Mice were placed for 5 months in cages that were heavily contaminated with
tobacco smoke to simulate the effect of smoking. Following that, they spent 4
months in clean air.
Dr. Hanspeter Witschi reports that the research is the first to demonstrate the
possibility of suppressing tobacco smoke-induced lung cancer with
chemopreventive agents in animals after they have been removed from a
smoke-filled environment. Different agents used in previous studies proved
effective only when they were given during the exposure of tobacco.
The researchers are hopeful that these findings will not only contribute to
solutions for preventing human lung cancers, but also promote methods for
reducing the disease in people who have already quit smoking, and for those who
have been exposed to secondhand smoke. Witschi suggests chemopreventive agents
might be included in smoking cessation kits to reduce the risk of lung cancer.
About a quarter of the US population smokes. Yet even those who stop smoking
remain at increased risk for cancer years after quitting. Researchers attribute
their high-risk status to the fact that people often quit smoking because they
have already experienced other smoking-related health conditions such as chronic
cough.
Lung cancer rates actually increase in men and women who have just quit smoking.
Chemoprevention administered at the very early stages of quitting might reduce
this temporary increase in risk, as well as prevent the development of second
primary tumors that often are seen in patients who are treated for lung cancer,
the authors suggest.
So far, there is no evidence that these agents would protect against other
diseases associated with smoking, according to the study, published this month
in the journal Carcinogenesis.
The project was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.
SOURCE: Carcinogenesis 2000;21:977-982.


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