OBJECTIVES : Worldwide, cervical cancer is both the fourth-most common cause of cancer and the fourth-most common cause of death from cancer in women. Approximately 90% of deaths from cervical cancer occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) is a xenobiotic metabolizing (detoxifying) enzyme. Studies have suggested that GSTP1 genetic polymorphism in exon 5 (Ile105Val, GSTP1 A313G) may play important role in determining susceptibility to cervical cancer, though the data have often been inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate the association of the GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism with the prevalence and risk of cervical cancer in Bangladeshi females. We also aimed at finding any correlation between demographic variables and polymorphic genotypes in cervical cancer patients.

METHODS : Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were performed to genotype GSTP1 polymorphism (Ile105Val). Genomic DNA was isolated from venous blood collected from 117 pathologically diagnosed squamous cell cervical cancer patients and 150 healthy females. Representative genotypes were confirmed by DNA sequencing.

RESULTS : The homozygous variant (G/G) genotypes and heterozygous plus variant (A/G+G/G) genotypes showed 3.17 fold (OR= 3.1746, 95% CI= 1.037 to 9.7187, p=0.043) and 1.71 fold (OR= 1.7143, 95% CI= 1.0425 to 2.8189, p=0.0337) increased risk of cervical cancer when compared to homozygous wild type (A/A) genotypes, respectively. The allele frequency distribution of A and G in cases and controls also associated with increased cervical cancer risk (OR= 1.677, 95% CI= 1.1129 to 2.5271) and the result is statistically significant (p<0.05). However, there was no significant combined effects of demographic variables (p>0.05) and GSTP1 genotypes in cancer development.

CONCLUSIONS : GSTP1genetic polymorphism (Ile105Val) could influence the susceptibility to cervical cancer development among Bangladeshi women.