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Two international research groups independently report results from genome-wide association studies. One group studied nearly 2000 patients with lung cancer and more than 2600 healthy controls. The other studied nearly 16,000 smokers.
Both groups replicated findings from previous smaller studies: They found a genetic locus on the long arm of chromosome 15 that contains genes for several nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and that is powerfully associated with nicotine dependence. Both groups found that the genetic locus also was associated strongly with lung cancer. An editorialist called the association “among the strongest in the epidemiological firmament.”
However, the groups differed in their conclusions: One group stated that the genetic …