Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylase Inducibility and Bronchogenic Carcinoma

Abstract

Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase is an inducible, membrane-bound enzyme involved in the metabolism of chemical carcinogens. In cultured human lymphocytes there is genetic variation. The normal white population in the United States can be divided into three separate groups having low, intermediate, and high inducible aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activities, with frequencies of 44.7 per cent, 45.9 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively. Fifty patients with bronchogenic carcinoma were studied, and the frequencies of the three groups were 4.0 per cent, 66.0 per cent and 30.0 per cent respectively. The data indicate that susceptibility to bronchogenic carcinoma is associated with the higher levels of inducible aryl hydrocarbon hyroxylase activity. (N Engl J Med 289:934–937, 1973)