Study shows that smoking ‘stops’ cancer-fighting proteins

Their new study, published in Science Advances, links tobacco smoking to harmful changes in DNA called ‘stop-gain mutations’ that tell the body to stop making certain proteins before they are fully formed.

They found that these stop-gain mutations were especially prevalent in genes known as ‘tumour-suppressors’, which make proteins that would normally prevent abnormal cells from growing.

Nina Adler, a University of Toronto PhD student who led the study during her postgraduate research, said, “Our study showed that smoking is associated with changes to DNA that disrupt the formation of tumour suppressors.

“Without them, abnormal cells are allowed to keep growing unchecked by the cell’s defences and cancer can develop more easily.”