Abstract
Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) play an important role in the detoxification of many xenobiotics involved in the etiology of cancer. A series of studies have suggested that individuals lacking GSTM1 could potentially be at higher risk for lung cancer. In different ethnic groups variations in null allele frequency has been observed. In our study on a Turkish population sample, GSTM1 gene polymorphisms and encoding phase II biotransformation enzymes, were investigated in healthy subjects and in lung cancer patients. DNA samples, extracted from the whole blood were amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in all 87 subjects, consisting of 47 previously diagnosed lung cancer patients and 40 healthy controls. The prevalence of GSTMl-null genotype in the lung cancer patients was 51.1%, compared to 57.5% in the control group. No statistical significance related with GSTM1 (0/0) null genotype was found between the control and lung cancer groups (OR = 1.30, 95% 0=0.55-3.03, P=0.55). We observed that carrying the GSTM1 genotype is not a risk factor alone for lung cancer.
Keywords: lung cancer, genetic polymorphism, GSTM1
