Smoking Associated with Mosaic Loss of Y-Chromosome

In a new study, published online on December 4, 2014 in Science, researchers at Uppsala University, and collaborators, demonstrate an association between smoking and loss of the Y-chromosome (image) in blood cells. The researchers have previously shown that loss of the Y-chromosome is linked to cancer. Because only men have the Y-chromosome, these results might explain why smoking is a greater risk factor for cancer among men and, in the broader perspective, also help explain why men in general have shorter lifespans. Smoking is a risk factor for various diseases, not only lung cancer. Epidemiological data show that male smokers have a greater risk of developing cancer outside the respiratory tract than female smokers. In the present study, which is the result of an international collaboration, the researchers discovered an association between smoking and genetic damage among men that might explain this sex difference. “We have previously in 2014 demonstrated an association between loss of the Y-chromosome in blood and greater risk for cancer. We now tested if there were any lifestyle- or clinical factors that could be linked to loss of the Y-chromosome. Out of a large number of factors that were studied, such as age, blood pressure, diabetes, alcohol intake, and smoking, we found that loss of the Y-chromosome in a fraction of the blood cells was more common in smokers than in non-smokers,” says Lars Forsberg, Ph.D., researcher in the Department of Immunology, Genetics, and Pathology, Uppsala University, and the key scientist responsible for the study. The association between smoking and loss of the Y chromosome was dose-dependent, i.e. loss of the Y-chromosome was more common in heavy smokers compared to moderate smokers.