In the history of humans fighting against cancer, the relationship
between tobaccos and cancer has been an important subject for the
academic and clinical research. By understanding the mechanism of why
cancer is caused by tobaccos, scientists around the world all anticipate
to solve the mystery of cancer and find the way of prevention and cure.
With the financial support from the National Research Program for
Genomic Medicine (NRPGM) and the National Science Council, under the
leadership of Prof. Yi-Ching Wang, Department of Pharmacology, NCKU, and
with the joint teamwork of Dr. Pinpin Lin, Division of Environmental
Health and Occupational Medicine, National Health Research Institute,
Dr. Han-Shui Hsu, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Veterans General
Hospital, and Dr. Chih-Yi Chen, Cancer Center, China Medical University
Hospital, the paper launched a new approach to the prevention and cure
of the human tumor disease and it was made the cover story of the
February issue of the world’s leading biomedical journal, The Journal of
Clinical Investigation. The research results showed that
nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone (NNK), known as a key ingredient in
the tobacco carcinogen, would not only cause DNA and genetic alteration;
it would also induce epigenetic alteration in the process of cancer
formation, inhibiting the tumor suppressor genes. The US Science News
thinks very highly of this particular research, as they have already
interviewed Prof. Yi-Ching Wang and written a commentary on it. It is
evident that Prof. Wang’s paper has considerable significance and
contribution in the field of international medical research.