[quote][b]Another reason to quit smoking for good[/b]
08 April 2006
From New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.
SOME smokers with lung cancer continue smoking, figuring why the hell not. Well, here's why not: it can stop chemotherapy from working. Nor are patches the answer, as it turns out it is nicotine itself that has the effect.
Srikumar Chellappan and colleagues at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, looked at how nicotine affected the performance of three anti-cancer drugs - gemcitabine, cisplatin and Taxol.
They added a small dose of nicotine, equivalent to the amount found in an average smoker's bloodstream, to lung cancer cells cultured in the lab, and then treated them with the drugs. Nicotine protected the cancer cells by activating two genes called XIAP and survivin, which prevent the cell suicide normally induced by the drugs (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0509313103).
To double-check the genes' function, the team switched them off and watched what happened to the cells. "If you do that, and then treat the cells with drugs, the cells will die," explains Chellappan.
The prognosis is clear. "Patients who continue to smoke have worse survival profiles than those who quit before treatment," says Chellappan. "Of course they have to be treated, but they should be undergoing smoking cessation programmes."[/quote]
How do you like that? Nicotine PROTECTING the cancer cells!!! I can't believe I ever smoked!
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 5/12/2006
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 25
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 766
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $100
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 37 [B]Seconds:[/B] 10
-
Quit Meter
$54,838.80
Amount Saved
-
Quit Meter
Days: 6045
Hours: 20
Minutes: 39
Seconds: 47
Life Gained
-
Quit Meter
45699
Smoke Free Days
-
Quit Meter
137,097
Cigarettes Not Smoked
