Interactions of Environmental Risk Factors
and Genetic Variations: Association
with Susceptibility to Cancer
10
Munindra Ruwali and Rahul Shukla
Abstract
The biological mechanisms of cancer development involve both environmental
and genetic factors. Among the environmental factors, tobacco and alcohol have
been established as one of the most potent causative factors in promoting
carcinogenesis while genetic variations in phase I and phase II xenobiotic
metabolizing enzymes (XMEs) play an important role in determining the outcome of exposure to environmental carcinogens. The genes that contribute to
cancer development fall into three broad categories, namely tumor suppressor
genes, oncogenes, and DNA repair genes though several other genes are also
involved. Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are the most important super family of
phase I XMEs while phase II Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) conjugate a wide
range of electrophilic substrates with the abundant cellular nucleophileglutathione (GSH) promoting their metabolism, detoxification, and excretion.
There has been a lot of interest in unravelling gene–environment interactions,
i.e. whether the risk of cancer associated with a particular environmental exposure
such as tobacco and alcohol differs with respect to functionally different
polymorphisms of these genes. A large number of studies have been conducted
involving several genes and many cancers and the results, though sometimes
inconsistent, help in advancing the etiological understanding of cancer. Study of
gene–environment interaction is important for improving accuracy and precision
in the assessment of both genetic and environmental influences in promoting
cancer. Gene–environment interaction also has important implications for public
M. Ruwali (*)
Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Gurgaon, India
R. Shukla
Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research
(NIPER-Raebareli), Lucknow, UP, India
# Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Singh et al. (eds.), Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7493-1_10
211
and Genetic Variations: Association
with Susceptibility to Cancer
10
Munindra Ruwali and Rahul Shukla
Abstract
The biological mechanisms of cancer development involve both environmental
and genetic factors. Among the environmental factors, tobacco and alcohol have
been established as one of the most potent causative factors in promoting
carcinogenesis while genetic variations in phase I and phase II xenobiotic
metabolizing enzymes (XMEs) play an important role in determining the outcome of exposure to environmental carcinogens. The genes that contribute to
cancer development fall into three broad categories, namely tumor suppressor
genes, oncogenes, and DNA repair genes though several other genes are also
involved. Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are the most important super family of
phase I XMEs while phase II Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) conjugate a wide
range of electrophilic substrates with the abundant cellular nucleophileglutathione (GSH) promoting their metabolism, detoxification, and excretion.
There has been a lot of interest in unravelling gene–environment interactions,
i.e. whether the risk of cancer associated with a particular environmental exposure
such as tobacco and alcohol differs with respect to functionally different
polymorphisms of these genes. A large number of studies have been conducted
involving several genes and many cancers and the results, though sometimes
inconsistent, help in advancing the etiological understanding of cancer. Study of
gene–environment interaction is important for improving accuracy and precision
in the assessment of both genetic and environmental influences in promoting
cancer. Gene–environment interaction also has important implications for public
M. Ruwali (*)
Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Haryana, Gurgaon, India
R. Shukla
Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research
(NIPER-Raebareli), Lucknow, UP, India
# Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Singh et al. (eds.), Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7493-1_10
211