One expert described the discovery as an important step for science and for society.
Fresh calls for more urgent action to combat climate change were sparked by research showing the health risk of tiny particles produced by burning fossil fuels.
According to Charles Swanton of the Francis Crick Institute, it could lead to a new field of cancer prevention.
The research was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology's annual conference in Paris.
People who have never smoked are thought to have a higher risk of lung cancer due to air pollution.
We didn't know if pollution was causing lung cancer.
Exposure to carcinogens, such as those in cigarette smoke or pollution, has traditionally been thought to cause cancer by changing the genes in the body.
Swanton said that there was an "inconvenient truth" with this model, because previous research has shown that most environmental carcinogens do not cause the genes to change.
He proposed a different model.
More than 460,000 people in England, South Korea, and Taiwan were analyzed by the research team from the Francis Crick Institute.
Exposure to tiny PM 2.5 pollution particles, which are less than 2.5 microns across, led to an increased risk of mutations in the EGFR genes.
The particles caused changes in two genes that have been linked to lung cancer.
They analyzed hundreds of samples of human lung tissue that were never exposed to carcinogens.
Even though the lungs were healthy, they found a lot of genetic changes.
Swanton said that the mutations seem to increase with age.
They probably aren't enough to drive cancer.
When a cell is exposed to pollution it can cause inflammation.
He said that if that cell harbors a flaw, it will become a cancer.
He said that they had provided a biological mechanism behind the mystery.
In an experiment on mice, the researchers were able to stop cancer from starting in the first place by blocking the mediators that cause inflammation.
Swanton hoped the finding would lead to a future where people could take a pill every day to reduce their risk of cancer.
The head of the cancer prevention program at France's Gustave Roussy institute said the research was revolutionary because it had not been demonstrated before.
She said that the study was an important step for science and society.
Delaloge was not involved in the research but talked about it at the conference on Saturday.
The level of demonstration needs to force authorities to act.
Tony Mok is an Oncologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
It means that we will be able to ask if lung scans can be used to look for pre-cancerous cells in the lungs and reverse them with drugs.
Air pollution is thought to be linked to the deaths of more than eight million people a year, making it a hidden killer.
It has been shown that there is a link between PM 2.5 and lung cancer deaths.
We don't have a choice about the air we breathe, but we have a choice about whether we smoke or not, said Swanton, who is also the chief clinician at Cancer Research UK.
He said that this is a major global problem because it is five times more likely that people are exposed to pollution than tobacco.
Climate health and human health can only be tackled if we understand the links between them.
Agence France- Presse.
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