Humans have two sex chromosomes; women have two X chromosomes and men have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. The Y chromosome contains genes mainly involved in male fertility and male sex determination and development.
In April 2014, a research team at Uppsala University in Sweden discovered correlations between Y chromosome loss and lower survival rates, and between Y chromosome loss and higher cancer mortality rates. Their study indicated that previous assumptions about the Y chromosome containing insignificant amounts of genetic information are false. Jan Dumanski, a member of the research team, stated that evidence was found supporting that the Y chromosome is involved in tumor suppression and could become useful in predicting the risk of men developing cancer.
Image Source: Steven Puetzer
The researchers are now focused on determining what factors play a role in chromosomal loss. They conducted a recent study identifying a link between smoking and Y chromosome loss. They tested other factors, like age, blood pressure, and alcohol intake but smoking had the most significant link in regards to Y chromosome loss.
“These results indicate that smoking can cause loss of the Y chromosome and that this process might be reversible. We found that the frequency of cells with loss of the Y chromosome was not different among ex-smokers compared to men who had never smoked. This discovery could be very persuasive for motivating smokers to quit,” says Lars Forsberg, one of the researchers involved in the study.
The reason for the link between Y chromosome loss in blood cells and increased risk of cancer remains unknown. Researchers speculate that immune cells may become less able to fight off cancer cells after the loss of the Y chromosome. The study does make it clear, however, that the risk of developing cancer is a major concern for male smokers.
Feature Image Source: Smoke by Ferran Jorda
