Objective: To evaluate possible interactions between dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables and the glutathione s-transferase mu and theta (GSTM1 and GSTT1) genotypes in lung cancer risk.
Methods: Hospital-based case-control study of 716 Caucasian lung cancer cases and 939 spouse and friend controls conducted in Boston, Massachussetts between 1992 and 2000. Dietary intake was collected through a food frequency questionnaire and blood was obtained for genotyping. Logistic regression models were adjusted for age, gender, total calories and smoking variables.
Results: Higher intakes of cruciferous vegetables reduced lung cancer risk among GSTM1 present individuals (odds ratio (OR)highest versus lowest tertile = 0.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.39-0.95) but not among GSTM1 null individuals (OR(highest versus lowest tertile) = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.78-1.68). We observed statistically significant interactions between GSTM1 and cruciferous vegetable intake overall (likelihood ratio test (LRT): p = 0.05) and among current smokers (LRT: p = 0.01). No significant interactions were observed for GSTT1 or the combined GSTM1/T1 genotype.
Conclusions: In our study, higher cruciferous vegetable intake reduced lung cancer risk only among individuals with the GSTM1 present genotype. Our findings differed from prior studies that specifically assessed isothiocyanates found in cruciferous vegetables or evaluated Asian study populations with higher levels of cruciferous vegetable consumption.