A comparison of smokers and nonsmokers with respect to oncogene products and cytogenetic parameters

Human monitoring studies can be valuable tools for assessing the adverse effects of chemicals. Cytogenetic parameters have been frequently employed but are rarely related directly to possible adverse health effects. Recently, the measurement of oncoprotein levels in plasma has been proposed as a possible and more appropriate indicator of exposure and carcinogenic risk but, unlike chromosome damage, little is known about the effects of possible confounding factors. This study compared the effect of smoking on chromosome aberrations, sister chromatid exchange, and plasma ras oncoprotein levels, in forty humans not otherwise known to be exposed to any specific chemical hazard. No effect was found on any of these end points, with the exception of a moderate, statistically nonsignificant elevation of sister chromatid exchange levels. It is concluded that smoking is unlikely to be a confounding factor in human monitoring studies using oncoprotein levels as an end point.