LUNG CANCER SURPASSED BREAST
CANCER AS THE #1 KILLER OF
WOMEN IN 1987.

 

Oral Epithelium as a Surrogate Tissue for Assessing Smoking-Induced Molecular Alterations in the Lungs

Hand with smoking cigaretteDoctors may be able to determine the extent of a smoker’s lung damage by looking in his or her mouth, according to new research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Because smoking exposes both the lungs and oral cavity to tobacco carcinogens, the scientists hypothesized that cells lining the mouth undergo molecular alterations similar to those in other parts of the airway and therefore could be used as surrogate tissue to assess molecular damage to the lungs, says senior study author Li Mao, M.D., a professor of thoracic/head and neck medical oncology and of systems biology at M. D. Anderson.

 

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