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Mutagen Sensitivity: A Genetic Predisposition Factor for Cancer

Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Requests for reprints: Xifeng Wu, Department of Epidemiology, Unit 1340, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1155 Pressler Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: 713-745-2485; Fax: 713-792-4657; E-mail: xwu{at}mdanderson.org.

Mutagen sensitivity, measured by quantifying the chromatid breaks induced by mutagens in short-term cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes, has been used as an indirect measure of DNA repair capacity. Numerous epidemiologic studies have suggested that mutagen sensitivity is a cancer susceptibility factor for a variety of epithelial cancers. A recent classic twin study examined systematically the role of genetic and environmental factors on the mutagen sensitivity phenotype and provided compelling evidence that mutagen sensitivity is highly heritable. A new prospective analysis provides further support to the notion that mutagen sensitivity increases the risk of cancer. In this review, we briefly summarize nearly two decades of epidemiologic and genetic studies linking mutagen sensitivity and cancer risk. The evidence is becoming increasingly convincing that mutagen sensitivity is a risk factor for cancer development. [Cancer Res 2007;67(8):3493–5]

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