Possible relationship between the risk of Japanese bladder cancer cases and the CYP4B1 genotype

Cytochrome P450 4B1 (CYP4B1) is involved in the metabolism of several xenobiotics, such as 2-aminofluorene, 2-naphthylamine and benzidine. CYP4B1 allelic variants CYP4B1*1-*7 were recently identified. We thus hypothesized that CYP4B1 genotypes may modify bladder cancer risk. We examined the CYP4B1 genotypes in 169 bladder cancer cases and 190 hospital controls using a hybridization probe assay. Among the CYP4B1 genotypes observed, the most frequent genotypes in both the groups were CYP4B1*1/*1, *1/*2, *1/*3 and *2/*2. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the subjects carrying the CYP4B1*1/*2 or *2/*2 genotypes had a 1.75-fold increased risk of bladder cancer (95% CI=1.03-2.95, P = 0.038) compared with the subjects carrying the CYP4B1*1/*1 genotype. We demonstrated the first genetic study regarding the association of CYP4B1 with bladder cancer. Our results suggest that CYP4B1 genotypes might have an effect on the risk of bladder cancer.