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nicotine promotes the development of brain metastases

THE ESSENTIAL

  • The risk of developing brain metastases in lung cancer is due to the action of nicotine
  • Nicotine crosses the blood-brain barrier, a physiological barrier in the brain
  • Researchers hope to reverse the devastating effects of nicotine with a substance found in feverfew

With more than 30,000 deaths a year, lung cancer is the deadliest in France: only 17% of patients are still alive 5 years after diagnosis. A new study by researchers at the Wake Forest School of Medicine demonstrates the involvement of nicotine in the development of brain metastases in patients with lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

There are two types of lung cancer: canchor small cell bronchial (CPC) which is closely linked to smoking and which accounts for 15% of all lung cancers, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which represents more than 80% of cases and is divided into three categories (adenocarcinomas, which currently represent 60% of cases of NSCLC, squamous cell carcinomas, representing 30% of cases and large cell carcinomas, which are rarer).

When you are diagnosed with lung cancer NBCLC, it is recommended to look for possible brain metastases. However, this “side effect” was previously poorly understood. Today, researchers believe that nicotine, a non-carcinogenic chemical found in tobacco, actually promotes the spread of cancer cells from the lung to the brain.

The devastating effect of nicotine

A report drawn up after the examination of 281 patients with this type of lung cancer: smokers had a significantly higher incidence of brain cancer. Indeed, nicotine would promote brain metastases by crossing the blood-brain barrier to modify the microglia – a population of glial cells which form the main active immune defense of the central nervous system.

In order to reverse these devastating effects of nicotine, the researchers turned to parthenolide, a substance produced by the chamomile in its flowers and fruits, which would be able to block nicotine-induced brain metastases in mice. If other studies including oncologists must be carried out, this discovery constitutes a serious track in the treatment of lung cancer NSCLC, in particular to improve its prognosis.

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