Lung cancer, particularly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is the deadliest cancer worldwide. Cigarette smoking is one of the main causes, but not every smoker develops the disease. This suggests that other biological factors help determine who develops cancer.

Researchers from the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Occupational Medicine, Indianapolis, and from the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center have now found that cigarette smoke, combined with a weakened DNA repair system, can trigger the early stages of lung cancer, particularly NSCLC. This work, led by first author Nawar Al Nasralla and corresponding author Catherine R. Sears, was recently published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget.

Full blog - https://www.oncotarget.org/2025/08/11/cigarette-smoke-and-weak-dna-repair-a-double-hit-behind-lung-cancer-risk/

Paper DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28724

Correspondence to - Catherine R. Sears - crufatto@iu.edu

Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEiCz834a8c

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Keywords - cancer, DNA repair, DNA damage, lung adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group C (XPC)

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