A STUDY OF GENDER-BASED CYTOCHROME P4501A2 VARIABILITY - A POSSIBLE MECHANISM FOR THE MALE EXCESS OF BLADDER-CANCER

One hypothesis for the well known gender difference in bladder cancer risk is that males and females metabolize carcinogens differently, The caffeine breath test (CBT) was performed on a group of healthy men an d women to determine whether there was a gender difference in P4501A2 activity, Results consistent with previous data suggesting an elevatio n of CBT in men were observed, although this increase was not statisti cally significant, Among women, however, there was a significant diffe rence between nulliparous and parous women (P = 0.03). Parous women ha d CBT values similar to men, whereas the results of women who had neve r given birth were lower, Confirming earlier studies, women taking ora l contraceptives had low CBT values, Our data suggest an effect of rec ent caffeine consumption, with heavy coffee drinkers having higher rat es of caffeine clearance. Adjustment for other weak effects, such as a ge, exposure to environmental cigarette smoke, history of smoking, rec ent meat and cruciferous vegetable consumption, and use of alcohol or other medications, did not alter these findings. The finding of a diff erence between parous and nulliparous women requires further study.