Nicotine Found to Accelerate Breast Cancer
Nicotine speeds the growth of breast tumors and aids the cancer's spread to other parts of the body, a recent study has found. A large body of previous research on nicotine has implicated the well-known tobacco component in helping to cause a wide variety of cancers, including those of the lungs, head, neck and prostate gland. But this study, published in Cancer Research, is the first to be done on the nicotine-breast cancer connection.
Some scientists see the findings as suggesting possible routes for new research on anti-cancer drugs. But the lead author of the study is skeptical. "I don't know what the potential is," said Dr. Chang Yan Chen, of the department of radiation oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, in Boston.
Dr. Julian Kim, a breast cancer surgeon and chief of oncologic surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, said, "This adds to the whole body of literature on how things that we ingest could potentially be harmful in terms of causing breast cancer or making existing breast cancer worse."
Much of the past research on nicotine has been on the human nervous system, but recent studies have demonstrated that the chemical can also trigger signaling systems in non-neuronal cells, including cancer cells. "It has been known that there are 10 to 12 nicotine receptors that express on the surface of various cells," said Chen. "We do not know why nicotine receptors express in all the cell surfaces from various tissue origins, but we do know that nicotine - can promote certain intracellular signaling in lung cancer."
In their recent study, Chen and his team found that certain epithelium-like cells of the breast produce different forms of a special nicotine receptor known as nAChR. When nicotine is attracted to these receptors and binds there, they begin "telling" the cells to grow in the out-of-control fashion that defines cancer.
And, once the cells are cancerous, the receptors tell them to migrate to distant parts of the body through the bloodstream, a process known as metastasis. Yet nicotine didn't seem to be able to accomplish this on its own. Nonetheless, the study couldn't identify which other factors might be assisting nicotine in the cancer scenario. This portion of the study was done in the test tube, but Chen reproduced the findings in mice.
Disclaimer
Featured Doctors
Cancer Treatment Center Seattle, Washington
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
900 SW 16th Street, Suite 100
Renton, WA 98057
Call: 800-641-2674
Breast Cancer Screening and Detection using MRI/ CT Scan Rye
Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging | Women's Imaging Center
Lawrence Hospital Center | Outpatient Services
55 Palmer Ave, 1st Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: (888) 544-1169
Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Westchester
Helen Pass, M.D.
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Radiation Oncologist Bronx NY 10469
Lucia Boselli
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Colon Cancer Survival Tulsa, Oklahoma
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
10109 E. 79th Street (81st Street & Highway 169)
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133
Call: 800-310-4403
Prostate Cancer Treatment
Alfred Rosenbaum
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Breast Cancer Screening and Detection using MRI/ CT Scan Rye
Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging | Women's Imaging Center
Lawrence Hospital Center | Outpatient Services
55 Palmer Ave, 1st Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: (888) 544-1169
Brachytherapy
Alfred Rosenbaum
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Colon Cancer Treatment Westchester, New York
Center for Advanced Surgery | Colorectal, GI and Endocrine Surgery
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Colon Cancer Treatment Westchester, New York
Center for Advanced Surgery | Colorectal, GI and Endocrine Surgery
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Breast Cancer Screening and Detection using MRI/ CT Scan Rye
Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging | Women's Imaging Center
Lawrence Hospital Center | Outpatient Services
55 Palmer Ave, 1st Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: (888) 544-1169
Breast Cancer Oncology Westchester, New York
The Columbia University Comprehensive Breast Center at Lawrence Hospital
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Medical Oncologist Westchester NY
Tauseef Ahmed, M.D.
Westchester Oncology & Hematology
19 Bradhurst Avenue
Hawthorne, NY 10532
Call: 888-370-4284
Uterine Cancer Risk Factors Tulsa, Oklahoma
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
10109 E. 79th Street (81st Street & Highway 169)
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133
Call: 800-310-4403
Best Cancer Treatment Center Chicago, Illinois
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
2520 Elisha Avenue
Zion, Illinois 60099
Call: 800-310-4403
Computed Tomography (Cat Scan)
Alfred Rosenbaum
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Radiation Oncologist Bronx NY 10469
Lucia Boselli
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Treatment for Cancer Tulsa, Oklahoma
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
10109 E. 79th Street (81st Street & Highway 169)
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133
Call: 800-310-4403
Neuro Oncology Westchester & Rockland
Bennie Chiles III
Westchester Spine & Brain Surgery, PLLC
280 N. Central Ave Suite 235
Hartsdale, NY 10530
Call: (888) 281-4568
Prostate Cancer Treatment
Alfred Rosenbaum
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Breast Cancer Oncology Westchester, New York
The Columbia University Comprehensive Breast Center at Lawrence Hospital
Center for Advanced Surgery
55 Palmer Avenue, First Floor
Bronxville, NY 10708
Call: 888-468-9351
Cancer Treatment Center New York
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
1331 East Wyoming Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19124
Call: 800-310-4403
Cancer Treatment Hospital Kansas City, Kansas
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
10109 E. 79th Street (81st Street & Highway 169)
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133
Call: 800-310-4403
Cancer Treatment Center New Jersey
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
1331 East Wyoming Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19124
Call: 800-310-4403
Brachytherapy
Alfred Rosenbaum
Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Comprehensive Cancer Care Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
1331 East Wyoming Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19124
Call: 800-310-4403
Computed Tomography (Cat Scan)
Alfred Rosenbaum
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care
2330 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10469
Call: (888) 860-7136
Comprehensive Cancer Care
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
900 SW 16th Street, Suite 100
Renton, WA 98057
Call: 800-310-4403
Specialities
- Acupuncture
- Alternative Medicine
- Bariatric Surgery
- Breast Surgery
- Cancer Treatment
- Cardiology
- Chiropractic
- Cosmetic Dentistry
- Cosmetic Surgery
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Endocrinology
- Facial Enhancement
- Fertility Treatment
- Foot Specialist
- Foot Surgery
- Gastroenterology
- General Surgery
- Geriatrics
- Hair Replacement
- Hematology
- Infectious Diseases
- Infertility Treatment
- Integrative Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- LASIK
- Laser Hair Removal
- Medical Editorial Board
- Medical Spa
- Medical Testing
- Neurology
- Nursing Home Services
- Nutrition and Diet
- Obstetrician & Gynecology
- Oncology & Cancer
- Oncology Center
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Orthopedics
- Pain Management
- Physical Therapy
- Plastic Surgery
- Podiatry
- Spinal Decompression
- Spine Surgery
- Sports Medicine
- Stem Cell Therapy
- Thoracic Surgery
- Vascular Surgery
- Vein Surgery
- Weight Loss








