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Review
. 2022 Jun 27;14(13):3142.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14133142.

Radon and Lung Cancer: Current Trends and Future Perspectives

Mariona Riudavets  1 , Marta Garcia de Herreros  2 , Benjamin Besse  1 , Laura Mezquita  2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Radon and Lung Cancer: Current Trends and Future Perspectives

Mariona Riudavets et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Lung cancer is a public health problem and the first cause of cancer death worldwide. Radon is a radioactive gas that tends to accumulate inside homes, and it is the second lung cancer risk factor after smoking, and the first one in non-smokers. In Europe, there are several radon-prone areas, and although the 2013/59 EURATOM directive is aimed to regulate indoor radon exposition, regulating measures can vary between countries. Radon emits alpha-ionizing radiation that has been linked to a wide variety of cytotoxic and genotoxic effects; however, the link between lung cancer and radon from the genomic point of view remains poorly described. Driver molecular alterations have been recently identified in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC), such as somatic mutations (EGFR, BRAF, HER2, MET) or chromosomal rearrangements (ALK, ROS1, RET, NTRK), mainly in the non-smoking population, where no risk factor has been identified yet. An association between radon exposure and oncogenic NSCLC in non-smokers has been hypothesised. This paper provides a practical, concise and updated review on the implications of indoor radon in lung cancer carcinogenesis, and especially of its potential relation with NSCLC with driver genomic alterations.

Keywords: carcinogenesis; driver genomic alterations; lung cancer; non-smokers; radon.

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Conflict of interest statement

M.R.: No conflicts of interest; M.G.d.H.: No conflicts of interest; L.M.: reports receiving research grant/funding (self) from Bristol–Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, Stilla and Inivata; serving in advisory/consultancy for Roche, Takeda and Jannsen; receiving honoraria (self) from Bristol–Myers Squibb, Takeda and Roche; receiving travel/accommodation/expenses from Roche, Bristol–Myers Squibb, Takeda and AstraZeneca; B.B.: Sponsored Research at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center Abbvie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Biogen, Blueprint Medicines, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, GSK, Ignyta, IPSEN, Merck KGaA, MSD, Nektar, Onxeo, Pfizer, Pharma Mar, Sanofi, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Takeda and Tiziana Pharma.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
European Indoor Radon Map from the European Commission. Reprinted with permission from the European Atlas of Natural Radiation (EANR), https://remon.jrc.ec.europa.eu/About/Atlas-of-Natural-Radiation/Digital-Atlas/Indoor-radon-AM/Indoor-radon-concentration, accessed on 10 April 2022.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Radon-described mechanisms of carcinogenesis in lung cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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