Lifestyle diseases reduce potential of cells to fight cancer: Expert

LUCKNOW : Life style diseases such as diabetes, stress and disorders caused by climate change, reduce the potential of body cells to fight cancer, said an expert on Thursday during the ongoing summit of Environmental Mutagen Society of India (EMSI) at Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow.

Professor Gareth J Jenkins, Swansea University, UK in his keynote lecture said, “We are exposed to an array of stimulants which can be carcinogenic and lead to cancer in the body. The effect of this carcinogen can be done away by regular checkups and early diagnosis of cancer in the body.”

Professor Jenkin’s laboratory has developed a novel method to screen for cancer causing mutations in a particular gene using patient blood samples. The method is simple, rapid and cheap, and offer many advantages over traditional tests.

The 44th edition of the three day long annual summit began on Tuesday at IITR. Experts from the field of toxicology and immunology are participating in it. The summit is also being attended by the delegation from Iran and USA.

During a separate session on “Environmental mutagens & human’, Dr Birajalaxmi Das of BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre), Mumbai, delivered talk on “Assessment of low dose and high dose radiation

risk on human population”.

Das, who is known for her studies over the effect of radiation on newborns and heading a research impact of survivors of Bhopal gas tragedy, said, “Rearrangements and involvement of chromosomes studied for 30 years, post-disaster in methyl isocyanate (MIC)-exposed survivors is being done to identify the long term genetic impact of the chemical on human body”.

The Bhopal gas tragedy occurred at a Union Carbide subsidiary pesticide plant in the city on the night of December 2-3, 1984. The plant released approximately 40 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas, exposing more than 500,000 people to toxic gases.