Objective: Our aim was to evaluate whether the association of GSTM1/T1 gene polymorphisms modifies the risk of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and what is its correlation with other predisposing risk factors like alcohol intake, cigarette smoking and hepatitis B and C infections.
Study design/setting: It was a case-control study, included 254 HCC cases compared with 525 hospital-based age and sex matched cases of chronic liver disease without HCC as controls from Indian population. The GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were detected using conventional multiplex PCR method.
Results: In this case-control study, we observed a positive correlation between age, HBV and HCV infection, smoking habit of > 20 packs/year, alcohol consumption of > 100 g/day and risk of liver cancer. We found significantly increased risk associated with GSTM1 null genotype (OR = 3.49; 95% CI = 2.52-4.84) as well as GSTT1 null genotype (OR = 3.12; 95% CI = 2.19-4.45), respectively. However, an increased risk of HCC was observed among heavy drinkers with GSTM1 (OR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.11-3.66). Further, cigarette smoking showed a non-significant association with GSTT1 (OR = 1.49; CI = 0.69-3.25).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that the variants in low penetrance gene such as GSTM1 and GSTT1 are associated with an increased liver cancer risk. Further, an influence of GSTM1/T1 null genotypes may contribute in the etiology of HCC in patients with higher cigarette and alcohol consumption.