Abstract 3333: Potential of kava in reducing lung cancer risk, tobacco use, and associated disparities

Tobacco use is the primary risk factor for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths in the US. Quitting, however, is challenging due to the addictive nature of nicotine. Thus, preventing lung carcinogenesis in conjunction with smoking cessation may be necessary. Racial disparities also exist - African American (AA) smokers, with the same level of tobacco consumption, are at the highest risk of developing lung cancer. 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is one key carcinogen in tobacco for human lung cancer risk and its differential uptake in AA and CA smokers may contribute to the disparity. AA smokers also have the lowest success rate in quitting. Kava is a daily beverage to help people relax and improve the quality of sleep. It is commercially available in US as a dietary supplement. Epidemiological data suggest that kava consumption may reduce cancer risk. Its relaxing property may help reduce tobacco dependence/use. Our preclinical data showed that kava completely blocked NNK induced tumorigenesis in A/J mice with enhancing NNK detoxification and reducing DNA damage as the potential mechanism. Building upon these, a pilot pre- and post- one-week kava trial was performed among smokers (n = 21). The results showed that kava was well-tolerated with high compliance and there were no signs of adverse effects when rigorous safety measures were implemented. Excitingly, the results suggested that one-week kava intake helped smokers 1) reduce tobacco use; 2) reduce the amounts of urinary DNA adducts; and 3) increase urinary excretion of NNAL. Specifically, urinary Total Nicotine Equivalent (TNE), the sum of nicotine N-oxide, total nicotine, cotinine, and 3-HO-cotinine, was used to estimate tobacco use and one-week kava use led to a 29.8% reduction in TNE (p 40% (p Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Chengguo Xing, Yi Wang, Naomi Fujioka, Sreekanth Narayanapillai, Junxuan Lu. Potential of kava in reducing lung cancer risk, tobacco use, and associated disparities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3333.