Glutathione-S-transferase P1 as a risk factor for Egyptian patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

Background The interest in glutathione-S-transferase (GST) isoenzymes has increased because of their regulatory role in the interaction with critical kinases involved in controlling stress response, apoptosis, and proliferation. GSTP1 is of particular interest with regard to cancer, because many tumors are characterized by high GSTP1 expression. Aim of the work We aimed at evaluating the role of GSTP1 genetic polymorphisms in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. Patients and methods We genotyped 40 CML patients and 30 healthy individuals of matched age and sex. Results Wild GSTP1 was found in 15/40 CML patients (37.5%) and in 21/30 (70%) controls, whereas mutant allele (homozygous and heterozygous) was present in 25/40 (62.5%) and 9/30 (30%) CML patients and controls, respectively. The odds ratio for GSTP1 was 3.889 (95% confidence interval, 1.417–10.674; P = 0.009*) with four-fold increased risk for CML. No significant difference in genotype frequency was present between wild and mutant genotypes when age of onset, sex, white blood cell count over 100×109/l at presentation, or smoking status were considered. Conclusion These data indicate that GSTP1 mutant allele may contribute significantly to the susceptibility to CML in a sample of the Egyptian patients. These results should be considered preliminary and must be confirmed in studies with larger sample sizes.