Faulty immune system may lead to lung cancer.

[2greys]

An immune system that's not functioning normally may lead to lung cancer in patients who don't smoke, a new study suggests.

"A strong immune system helps to keep inflammation under control and chronic inflammation is known to promote cancer," said co-author Rayjean Hung.

"Our research suggests that it's underlying dysfunction of immune regulation that can lead to lung cancer, as if a shield is down," she said. Hung is a senior investigator at Sinai Health's Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto.

For the study, Hung's team looked at the genes of 80,000 people to see if conditions other than those that compromise lung function -- such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) -- can cause lung cancer. As many as 70% of lung cancer patients also have existing COPD or airflow obstruction.

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