Medical researchers have discovered that a susceptibility to defective genes which is peculiar to Taiwanese women, is the main reason why a disproportionately high number of Taiwanese women develop lung cancer -- even though relatively few of them smoke. Yang Pan-shy (楊泮池), supervisor in the Department of Internal Medicine at NTU Hospital made the announcement yesterday.
Yang says the discovery solves the long-standing mystery surrounding the unusually high rate of lung cancer among Taiwanese women.
Typically, cigarette smoking and exposure to carcinogens such as asbestos, radon gas, radiation, air pollution and tobacco smoke are among the main causes of lung cancer. In the past it had been widely believed that the inhalation of smoke while cooking was the cause of the high rates of lung cancer among Taiwanese women. But Yang says medical research has found otherwise.
According to research conducted by the Institute of Public Health of National Taiwan University, about 50 genes in Taiwan's population are highly prone to the defect. Yang said that a Taiwanese woman with three or more of the defective genes would be 20 times more likely than an average person to develop lung cancer.
Yang said that hormone-receiving genes, DNA-repairing genes and detoxification genes are the three main categories of susceptible genes in Taiwanese women. Smoke from cigarettes and cooking are merely additional factors causing lung cancer in Taiwanese women, said Yang.
Every year lung cancer causes between 5000 and 6000 deaths in Taiwan. About 2000 of these are women, Yang said.
Yang said that in future, women with defective genes should be tested periodically for lung cancer so that it can be detected and treated in its early stages.
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