A gene variant may be associated with susceptibility to lung cancer in patients who don't smoke, researchers have found.

Downregulation of the GPC5 gene may increase the risk of adenocarcinoma among never-smokers, Ping Yang, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues reported online in Lancet Oncology. "This is the first gene that has been found that is specifically associated with lung cancer in people who have never smoked," Yang said in a statement.

MedPage Today, by Kristina Fiore, 3/23/2010

Tags: Cancer, Lung Cancer, MD, nonsmokers, Ping Yang