Molecular genotyping for N‐acetylation polymorphism in Japanese patients with colorectal cancer

Background. N‐acetylation polymorphism has been documented as a representative pharmacogenetic trait, and also has been implicated ecogenetically in an individual's susceptibility to cancer. However, there still remains controversy concerning the association between colorectal cancer and N‐acetylation polymorphism. Methods. A newly established molecular genotyping method using polymerase chain reaction‐based restriction fragment length polymorphism to analyze the distribution of polymorphism in a large group of Japanese patients with colorectal cancer was used. Results. Based on an analysis of 234 Japanese patients with colorectal cancer and 329 healthy control subjects, no significant difference was observed in either the distribution of acetylator phenotypes or of allele frequencies between the two groups. In addition, no significant difference in their distribution was found based on the age at which cancer was first detected, the location of tumors, or the histopathologic features. Conclusions. N‐acetylation polymorphism does not appear to be implicated crucially as a genetic trait affecting an individual's susceptibility to colorectal cancer.