Jump to full article: Reuters, 2002-07-09
Intro: Scientists in Germany may have solved a conundrum that has been puzzling cancer researchers for years -- why not all smokers develop the deadly disease, the British Journal of Cancer said on Tuesday.
It said research showed a particular variant of a gene necessary for healthy lung function appeared much more often in smokers with lung cancer than those without.
The scientists studied 117 patients with lung cancer and compared them to a similar number of healthy people and another group of smokers suffering from a variety of lung ailments but not cancer.
"The study showed that one version of the surfactant protein B gene, which is essential for normal lung function, was found in a significantly higher number of lung cancer patients than those in the other groups," it said.
The gene variant was found in a quarter of the group suffering the most common type of lung cancer, compared to nine percent of healthy people.
Anti-cancer campaigners welcomed the news.
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