Netherlands : Goats could increase the risk of a rare lung cancer

Via EurekAlert, excerpt :

" Exposure to goats could increase the risk of a certain type of lung cancer, according to French researchers.

The study, which will be presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam today (25 September 2011), has linked a professional exposure to goats with a distinct subset of lung cancer, known as pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma (P-ADC).

This form of lung cancer has a weak association with tobacco smoking when compared with other types of the disease. In attempting to identify other triggers that may cause the disease, scientists have previously noticed similarities between P-ADC and a viral infection which causes growths in the lungs of sheep. Given these similarities, the researchers have investigated whether a viral agent found in sheep and goats could be easily transferred to people who work with the animals, leading to a partiality for P-ADC."