The nicotine molecule, however non-carcinogenic, would promote the development of cerebral metastases in patients suffering from lung cancer.
- The risk of developing brain metastases in lung cancer would be due to the action of nicotine
- Nicotine would cross the blood-brain barrier, a physiological barrier present in the brain
- Researchers hope to reverse the devastating effects of nicotine with a substance found in feverfew
With more than 30,000 deaths per 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 theWake 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:small cell bronchial cancer (CPC) which is closely linked to tobacco consumption and which accounts for 15% of all lung cancers, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that represents more than 80% of cases and is divided into three categories (adenocarcinomas, which currently represent 60% of cases of NSCLCsquamous cell carcinoma, representing 30% of cases and large cell carcinoma, which are rarer).
When lung cancer is diagnosed NSCLC, it is recommended to search for possible brain metastases. However, this “side effect” was previously poorly understood. Now, 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 statement 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 microglia — a population of glial cells that form the main active immune defense of the central nervous system.
In order to reverse these devastating effects of nicotine, researchers turned to parthenolide, a substance produced by feverfew in its flowers and fruits, believed to be able to block Nicotine-induced brain metastases in mice. If other studies including oncologists should be carried out, this discovery constitutes a serious lead in the treatment of NSCLC lung cancers, in particular to improve its prognosis.
.
