POLYMORPHISMS IN DRUG-METABOLIZING-ENZYMES AS MODIFIERS OF CANCER RISK

The identification of low-penetrance genes, the polymorphisms of which increase an individual's risk of developing cancer, are likely to be extremely important in the general population. In this report we analy zed two genes involved in detoxification. In a number of loci, we iden tified polymorphic variation correlating with the expression of the ge ne product, We analyzed two such loci, the cytochrome P-450 gene CYP2D 6 and the N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) genes, in patients with bladder and colon cancer, respectively. We observed no statistically signific ant associations between the control and cancer populations; however, there was a small increase in heterozygote number in bladder cancer.