Rare inherited mutation found to sharply raise lung cancer risk

A rare inherited genetic mutation has been identified as a powerful risk factor for lung cancer, particularly in people who have never smoked, according to a large-scale study published in the journal Science. The research, led by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and 23andMe, found that carriers of the EGFR T790M mutation have a dramatically elevated risk of developing the disease. The study analyzed genetic and health data from more than 3.3 million 23andMe participants. It found that individuals with the mutation were, on average, 25 times more likely to develop lung cancer than those without it. The risk was even more pronounced among nonsmokers, who were over 60 times more likely to get lung cancer if they carried the mutation. For context, the study noted that smoking increases lung cancer risk about fourfold. "One of the remarkable findings here is just how strong an effect a single mutation can have," said Alexander Gusev, a quantitative geneticist at Dana-Farber and a co-senior author of the study. "To my knowledge it's one of the strongest, if not the strongest, cancer risk increasing mutations that has ever been found.