Smoking, chromosomal aberrations, and cancer incidence in healthy subjects

•Chromatid breaks and total aberration frequency were higher in smokers compared to non-smokers.•Intensity of smoking was a predictor of the frequency of chromosomal aberrations, while duration was not.•Relative risk of cancer incidence was 1.74 (95 % CI 1.08−2.77, p = 0.019) for very heavy smokers.•Subjects with cells of high aberration levels developed cancer with the hazard ratio of 1.39 (95 % CI 1.02–1.90). Chromosomal aberrations (CAs) in peripheral blood lymphocytes can be used as biomarkers of cancer risk. Cytogenetic tests were conducted on 2396 healthy Hungarian individuals and cancer incidence was followed up from 1989 to 2018. Venous blood samples were obtained from the subjects and metaphases from lymphocyte cultures were prepared. We compared the CA frequencies of the various smoking (1−5; 6−10; 11−19; or 20−40 cigarettes/day) and exposure (irradiation; chemical industry; chemical research laboratory) groups. Chromatid break (p = 0.0002), total aberration (p = 0.002), and aberrant cell (p = 0.001) frequencies were higher in smokers than in non-smokers. For very heavy smokers, total CAs were significantly higher than for non-smokers (