Smoking habit and genetic factors associated with lung cancer in a population highly exposed to arsenic

In order to find some relationship between genetic differences in metabolic activation and detoxification of environmental carcinogens and host susceptibility to chemically induced cancers, we have investigated the distribution of the GSTM1 null genotype and CYP450*1A1 MspI polymorphism in lung cancer patients and healthy volunteers of the second region in the north of Chile highly exposed to arsenic. The main sources of environmental arsenic exposure in Chile are copper smelting and drinking water, specially in the second region, the most important copper mining region in the world that shows the highest lung cancer mortality rate in the country (35/100.00). The population of Antofagasta, the main city of the region was exposed between 1958 and 1970 to arsenic concentrations in drinking water of 860 mu g/m(3), presently declining to 40 mu g/m(3). For men the MspI CYP1A1*2A genotype was associated with a highly significant estimated relative lung cancer risk (O.R. = 2.60), but not GSTM1 by itself. The relative lung cancer risk for the combined 2A/null GSTM1 genotypes was 2.51, which increased with the smoking habits (O.R. = 2.98). In the second region the cancer mortality rate for As associated cancers, might be related at least part to differences in As biotransformation. In this work we demonstrate that genetic biomarkers such as CYP1A1 2A and GSTM1 polymorphisms in addition to DR70 as screening biomarkers might provide relevant information to identify individuals with higher risk for lung cancer, due to arsenic exposure. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.