Dr Arif Ehsan addresses a seminar at BN College in Patna on Saturday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Sept. 10: Smoking today accounts for nearly 50 per cent of all lung cancer.

Lung cancer on the other hand contributes nearly 20 per cent among all types of cancers.

Chewing tobacco accounts for around 10 per cent of cancers in India.

D. Aarif Ahsan, research investigator at department of radiation oncology, University of Michigan, today shared the dangerous implications of tobacco. Ahsan was here in the state capital today to deliver a guest lecture on Cancer — Scope for Research, at his alma mater BN College, Patna. It was a proud moment for both the audience and the lecturer, as Ahsan was one of the students in the first graduation batch (1996-1999) of department of biotechnology at BN College.

Ahsan enlightened the students and faculty members with his study on growth and cure therapies of cancer. “Human body has 20 trillion cells. Cancer is basically the abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells. Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer, which is identified as prostate cancer in male and breast cancer in female. One of the biggest cause of lung cancer is smoking,”Ahsan said.

Ahsan shared the findings of his research at the university of Michigan.

“Cancers are caused by interactions of epithermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and heat shock protein (HSP) 90 that cause oncogensis, which is responsible for cancer. In my research, I have identified the region where EGFR and HSP 90 interact and further therapy of disrupting of their interaction and finally cures cancer. This is an innovative finding which was earlier not know,” said Ahsan.