Alcohol Intake Interacts with Functional Genetic Polymorphisms of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH2) and Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) to Increase Esophageal Squamous Cell Cancer Risk.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have discovered numerous genetic susceptibility loci including a cluster of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene family for esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC).
We undertook a study to examine whether a common polymorphism in the alcohol dehydrogenase 3 gene was associated with a higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma using data and biological samples collected for the Esophageal and Gastric Cancer Study (n = 114 esophageal and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, n = 60 non-cardia gastric carcinoma, n = 23 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 160 controls).
Japanese alcoholic men with (n = 65) and without (n = 206) esophageal squamous cell carcinomas, excluding those with liver cirrhosis, were assessed for MCV within 7 days of their last drink, alone or in combination with findings from either the alcohol flushing questionnaire or genotyping to identify inactive aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2*1/2*2) and the less-active form of alcohol dehydrogenase-2 (ADH2*1/2*1), which pose risks for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.