Nicotine Promotes Brain Metastases

Nicotine promotes brain metastases

Nicotine itself does not cause tumors, but it has proven to be very dangerous in lung cancer. The substance is able to penetrate the brain and affect the properties of immune cells.

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The most common type of lung cancer often metastases to the brain. Scientists have determined that the use of nicotine in any form can contribute to the penetration of metastases into this organ. The new study is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

The reasons why tumors metastasize to a particular organ often remain unknown to scientists. Science did not know and why metastases in almost 40% of cases enter the brain. In this case, the average survival time for patients is less than six months.

Scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have found that nicotine promotes metastases of non-small cell lung cancer to the brain. The authors of the study emphasize that nicotine is not a carcinogenic component of tobacco products.

“Based on our findings, we cannot say that using nicotine replacement products is a safe smoking cessation option for people with lung cancer,” said Professor Kounosuke Watabe, co-author of the study.

Scientists examined 281 patients with lung cancer. They found that in smokers, this tumor metastasizes to the brain more often.

Further, using a mouse model, scientists were able to discover the mechanism of action of nicotine, as a result of which metastases enter the brain. Nicotine crosses the blood-brain barrier and acts on microglia, the immune cells of the brain. As a result, glia ceases to play a protective role and begins to promote cancer growth.

In an experiment on mice, scientists also discovered a substance that can suppress the effect of nicotine on microglia. It was parthenodlid, a compound found in maiden feverfew or maiden tansy (Tanacétum parthénium). But in today's clinical practice, only one approach is possible - the treatment of brain metastases using radiotherapy.