ADH1B rs1229984 polymorphism HRs for HNC and oesophageal cancer death and for alcohol related cancer death were 0.67 (95% CI: 0.42-1.08), and 0.64 (95% CI: 0.40-1.03), respectively.
Among conventional markers of alcohol abuse, the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of erythrocytes is prognostic of alcohol-related cancer and its predictivity increases when combined with functional polymorphisms of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH1B [rs1229984] and ADH1C [rs698]) and the mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2 [rs671]).
Stratified analyses were carried out to determine the gene-environment interaction between ADH1B His47Arg and alcohol drinking and gene-gene interaction between ADH1B His47Arg and aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) Glu/Lys related to UADT cancer risk.
In Caucasians, significant associations between polymorphisms in ADH1B (rs1229984) and ADH1C (rs698 and rs1693482), and UAT cancer have been observed, despite strong linkage disequilibrium among them.
Gene variants rs1229984 (ADH1B) and rs1573496 (ADH7) were significantly protective against aerodigestive cancer in each individual study and overall (P = 10(-10) and 10(-9), respectively).