Polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzymes CYP1A1, GSTT and GSTP contribute to the development of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma risk in the Saudi Arabian population

The last four decades have seen significant increase in the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) as a possible result of increasing environmental carcinogens exposure. Based on the increasing evidence for the association between carcinogen-exposure-related cancer risk and xenobiotic gene polymorphisms, we have undertaken a hospital based case-control study on xenobiotic gene polymorphisms in Saudi individuals with a diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Polymorphisms in five genes (CYP1A1, GSTT1, GSTP1, GSTM1, and NQO1) were characterized in 182 individuals with DLBCL and 513 normal controls using PCR-RFLP method. The CYP1A1*2C (p = 0.011, OR: 6.62, and 95% CI: 1.56 – 28.10), GSTT1 null (p ≤ 0.001, OR: 11.94, 95% CI: 7.88 – 18.12), and GSTP1 TT genotypes (p = 0.017, OR: 3.42, 95% CI 1.26 – 9.38) demonstrated significant association of DLBCL risk. None of the other alleles tested for proved to be significant indicators of DLBCL risk. Our findings suggest that polymorphisms of xenobiotic me...