Medical World News® Behind the Science: Night Shift Work and the Resulting Effects on DNA Damage in the Development of Cancer

A recent study published in the Journal of Pineal Research revealed new evidence showing why night shift workers are at increased risk of developing certain types of cancer. The study involved a controlled laboratory experiment that simulated night or day shift schedules in healthy volunteers. Findings suggested that night shift work disrupts natural rhythms in the activity of certain cancer-related genes, making night workers more vulnerable to DNA damage.

CancerNetwork sat down with key investigators on the study to discuss known risks associated with circadian disruption, methods of their research, effects of night shift work on DNA repair pathways, and the importance of these data.

This segment comes from the CancerNetwork® portion of the MJH Life Sciences™ Medical World News.

Reference

Koritala BSC, Porter KI, Arshad OA, et al. Night shift schedule causes circadian dysregulation of DNA repair genes and elevated DNA damage in humans. J Pineal Res. 2021;70(3):e12726. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12726