The Nation - News from Oct. 8, 1987

Dutch researchers have identified the first evidence that may explain on a genetic basis how cigarette smoking causes at least some cases of lung cancer, it was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam said an analysis of genetic material from the tumors of lung cancer patients suggests some cases may be caused by tobacco smoke damaging a gene known as K-ras, which carries instructions to manufacture a protein believed to play a role in helping regulate signals involved in cell growth.