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Nucleotide Excision Repair: Impacts Of Environmental Carcinogens And Its Role In Cancer Susceptibility In Appalachian Kentucky, Nathaniel C. Holcomb

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Lung cancer is a particularly devastating disease, accounting for the most deaths among all cancer types in the United States. Despite a reduction in the country’s smoking rates, cigarette smoking remains the number one risk factor for lung cancer. Additionally arsenic exposure, which occurs primarily through contaminated drinking water in the U.S., is associated with increased lung cancer incidence. The nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway is critical for maintenance of genomic fidelity, removing DNA lesions that could otherwise promote DNA mutations and drive carcinogenesis. Tobacco smoking introduces significant amounts of DNA damage and produces characteristic DNA mutations found in lung …