Schizophrenia, lung cancer and glutathione-S-transferase-mu

Objectives: Several reports have suggested that, despite the high prevalence of cigarette smoking, the incidence of lung cancer is lower than would be expected in patients with schizophrenia, In addition, patients with lung cancer have been shown to have a tower expression of glutathione-S-transferase-mu (GST-mu) compared to healthy controls, In this study, we tested the hypothesis that GST-mu was a trait marker that protected patients with schizophrenia from developing lung cancer, Methods: One hundred patients who fulfilled DSMIIIR criteria for schizophrenia were examined for the presence or absence of GST-mu. Results: Significantly more male (86%) and female patients (64%) were smokers compared to general population rates of 30% and 30% respectively (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences in the expression of GST-mu in patients (48%) compared to controls (46%). Conclusions: We found no difference in the expression of GST-mu in patients with schizophrenia compared to normal controls, It is therefore unlikely that GST-mu acts as a trait marker protecting patients with schizophrenia from lung cancer, However, a significantly large smoking prevalence rate was ascertained in the patient population.