Glutathione S-transferase gene polymorphism and lung cancer in Indian population: a meta-analysis of case-control studies

Among the respiratory diseases, lung cancer is one the most critical in terms of mortality. In India, more than half a million people die every year because of lung cancer. Tobacco smoke along with polymorphism of glutathione S-transferase gene is considered to be one of the most important factors for lung cancer. Here a review has been carried out to find the association of gene polymorphism and lung cancer, especially in the Indian population. This article deals with reviews on the effect of GSTT1 and GSTM1 polymorphism on lung cancer specifically from case-control studies of the Indian population. In the overall population, from the pooled odds ratio, a significant association of GSTM1 (null versus present) was found with lung cancer, whereas the association of GSTT1 (null versus present) genotype was found to be statistically insignificant. From the null test (two-tailed), GSTM1 (null versus present genotype; P value = 0.035, I2 = 40.58%) was found to be significantly associated with lung cancer. Begg's funnel plot analysis showed no publication bias for both gene polymorphisms. Thus this review shows that GSTM1 polymorphism is a significant risk factor for lung cancer in the Indian population.