HHS HealthBeat (August 9, 2010)

Smoking, babies and cancer

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Babies of mothers who smoke – or who are around secondhand smoke – may wind up with a genetic mutation that could raise their risk of cancer later in life.

Stephen Grant of the University of Pittsburgh saw the mutation in the cord blood of newborns. The gene, known as GPA, is representative of genes that transform normal cells into tumor cells:

"Maternal tobacco smoke exposure – either their own act of smoking or secondhand – induces mutations in the baby that are associated with cancer development and that are highly likely to persist throughout their lifetime." (11 seconds)

His advice to pregnant women: Don’t smoke, and stay away from those who do.

The study in the Open Pediatric Medicine Journal was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November 21, 2011