A glutathione transferase in human leukocytes as a marker for the susceptibility to lung cancer.

Leukocyte isozyme(s) of glutathione transferase (GT-tSBO) has been shown to be dominantly inherited. The frequency of the phenotypes of this isozyme in bronchial carcinoma and control patients matched for age and smoking history is reported here. Control smokers showed an increased likelihood of having GT-tSBO (59%) compared with lung cancer patients (35%). The lack of GT-tSBO was related to the extent of smoking by the lung cancer patients but not to the pathology of the lung tumor. It was concluded that the gene expressing this isozyme(s) may be a host genetic determinant of susceptibility to lung cancer in smokers.