Background: Kashmir Valley has elevated incidence rate of gastric cancer (GC) and several environmental, host genetic factors have been suspected for it. Xenobiotic carcinogen exposure and interindividual differences in its cellular metabolism may modulate susceptibility to GC.
Aim of the study: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of genetic variants of xenobiotic-metabolizing genes with susceptibility to GC in Kashmir Valley.
Methods: A case-control study was performed in 303 subjects (108 GC and 195 healthy controls) to analyze the association of polymorphisms in GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1, GSTM3, CYP1A1, and CYP2E1 genes in susceptibility to GC in Kashmir Valley. All subjects were genotyped through polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Results: GSTM1null and CYP2E1c1c2 genotypes imparted risk for GC (odds ratio [OR] = 1.98, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] = 1.22-3.21, P = 0.006 and OR = 2.56, 95%CI = 1.25-5.25, P = 0.010, respectively). GSTM3AB genotype/B allele was found to be associated with low risk for GC. Smokers and high salted tea consumers themselves were at higher risk for GC (OR = 8.98, 95%CI = 5.16-15.62, P = 0.0001 and OR = 14.78, 95%CI = 8.02-27.23, P = 0.0001, respectively). Cancer risk was further enhanced in smokers with the GSTM1null genotype.
Conclusion: The results suggest that GSTM1null, GSTM3AB, and CYP2E1c1c2 genotypes modulate the risk of GC whereas GSTM1null genotypes enhance the risk of GC for smokers in the Kashmir population.