The fatal effect that nicotine has on human bodies has been well documented. It may be especially injurious to women, however, because it seems to aid the spread of breast cancer tumors to other parts of the body. The harmful effects of this lethal component in tobacco have already received considerable attention by researchers. All types of cancers including those of lungs, neck, head and prostrate have been extensively studied and their relationship with nicotine has been analyzed extensively. Adding to this body of knowledge is the recent study conducted on how nicotine is related to Breast Cancer. The study may open new avenues for anti cancer drug research. It also augments the already existing research on how the things that human beings ingest cause harmful effects; in this case how it can cause breast cancer or worsen the already existing condition. Whether nicotine is absorbed first hand by smoking cigarettes or by inhaling second hand smoke, the effects are the same. A woman who does not smoke may be putting herself at the same level of danger as her smoking companions just by being around them when they smoke. In addition to getting a person addicted to the substance, nicotine also has other harmful effects. It seems to affect women differently and is seen to be potentially more harmful on women. In vivo and in vitro studies seem to indicate that while nicotine may not be a conventional carcinogen, when it combines with certain other cellular elements within the body, it proves fertile ground to enable the development of tumors. Metastasis may not occur just by the administration of nicotine. However nicotine does potentiate growth related processes which obviously includes metastasis or rapid spreading of cancer cells to other parts of the body. Nicotine was traditionally believed to trigger or excite only the human nervous system, but the recent study shows evidence that the substance can trigger even non-neuronal cells, specifically cancer cells. Nicotine is shown to promote intracellular signaling in lung cancer. Nicotine is attracted to some special nicotine receptors found in the epithelium-like cells of the breasts, and bind to them. It then stimulates the cells to grow out of control which then causes cancer. Once the cells turn cancerous and start rapidly multiplying, the receptors also direct them to migrate to other parts of the body causing the cancer to spread. Nicotine cannot accomplish this by itself, and other than the nicotine receptors in the breast cells, factors that assist nicotine in cancer needs to be explored further.
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