Polimorfi smul NAT2 (arilaminice N-acetil 2), determinant-cheie al variaţiilor individuale în capacitatea de acetilare, este suspectat de modifi carea risculului de tumori maligne. Ca fumul de tutun şi alte substanţe inhalate, conţine o varietate de substraturi NAT2. Relaţia dintre fenotipul NAT2 şi cancerul pulmonar este obiectul de cercetare intensivă al diferitor studii de caz-control, ale căror rezultate au produs controverse.

NAT2 (arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2) polymorphism, being a key determinant of individual variations in acetylation capacity, is suspected to modify the risk of carcinogen-related malignancies. As tobacco smoke and other inhaled hazards contain a variety of NAT2 substrates, the relationship between NAT2 phenotype and lung cancer (LC) risk has been a subject of intensive research, however different case-control studies produced controversial data. In the present report, we employed a novel ,,comparison of extremes” approach, i.e., we compared the distribution of NAT2 genotypes in lung cancer patients (LC, n = 178) not only to the population controls (healthy donors (HD), n = 364), but also to the subjects with a putative cancer-resistant constitution (elderly tumor-free smokers and non-smokers (ED), n = 351). Frequencies of homozygous rapid, heterozygous rapid and slow acetylators were 6%, 39% and 56% in LC, 8%, 32% and 60% in HD, and 6%, 35% and 59% in ED, respectively). Comparison of the NAT2 genotype frequencies between affected and non-affected individuals did not reveal any statistical deviations, irrespectively of smoking history, gender, age, or histological type of LC. Adjusted odds ratio for rapid vs. slow acetylators was 1.12 (95% confi dence intervals (CI): 0.73 - 1.74) comparing LC vs. HD, and 1.10 (95% CI: 0.74 - 1.62) comparing LC vs. ED. Similar distribution of NAT2 acetylator genotypes both in tumor-prone and in tumor-resistant groups suggests that, despite the presence of NAT2 carcinogenic substrates in tobacco smoke. NAT2 polymorphism does not play a noticeable role in lung cancer susceptibility.