‘Comparison of extremes’ approach provides evidence against the modifying role of NAT2 polymorphism in lung cancer susceptibility

Abstract NAT2 (arylamine N -acetyltransferase 2) polymorphism, being a key determinant of individual variations in acetylation capacity, is suspected to modify the risk of carcinogen-related malignancies. As tobacco smoke and other inhaled hazards contain a variety of NAT2 substrates, the relationship between NAT2 phenotype and lung cancer (LC) risk has been a subject of intensive research, however different case–control studies produced controversial data. In the present report, we employed a novel ‘comparison of extremes’ approach, i.e. we compared the distribution of NAT2 genotypes in lung cancer patients (LC, n =178) not only to the population controls (healthy donors (HD), n =364), but also to the subjects with a putative cancer-resistant constitution (elderly tumor-free smokers and non-smokers (ED), n =351). Frequencies of homozygous rapid, heterozygous rapid and slow acetylators were 6, 39 and 56% in LC, 8, 32 and 60% in HD, and 6, 35 and 59% in ED, respectively. Comparison of the NAT2 genotype frequencies between affected and non-affected individuals did not reveal any statistical deviations, irrespectively of smoking history, gender, age, or histological type of LC. Adjusted odds ratio for rapid vs. slow acetylators was 1.12 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.73–1.74) comparing LC vs. HD, and 1.10 (95% CI: 0.74–1.62) comparing LC vs. ED. Similar distribution of NAT2 acetylator genotypes both in tumor-prone and in tumor-resistant groups suggests that, despite the presence of NAT2 carcinogenic substrates in tobacco smoke, NAT2 polymorphism does not play a noticeable role in lung cancer susceptibility.