Lung cancer susceptibility from GSTM1 deletion and air pollution with smoking status: a meta-prediction of worldwide populations

Glutathione S transferase mu 1 (GSTM1) gene has been associated with lung cancer (LC) risk, for GSTM1 enzyme playing a vital role in detoxification pathway and protective against toxic insults. The major objective of this study was to investigate GSTM1 deletion pattern and its association with LC in the world’s population by using meta-prediction techniques. The secondary objective was to examine the effects of air pollution, smoking status, and other factors for gene-environment interactions with GSTM1 deletion and LC risk. We completed a comprehensive search to yield a total of 170 studies (40,296 cases and 48,346 controls) published from 1999 to 2017 for meta-analyses. The results revealed that GSTM1 deletion type was associated with increased risk of LC, while GSTM1 present type provided protective effect for all populations combined worldwide. Subgroup analysis on the rank order of risks from highest to lowest, among racial–ethnic groups, were Chinese, South East Asian, other North Asian, European, and finally American. Additional predictive analyses presented that air pollution played a significant role with increased risks of GSTM1 deletion and LC susceptibility, and the risks increased for smokers with higher levels of air pollution. Based on the findings of meta-predictive analysis, increased air pollution levels and smoking status presented additive effects to the LC risk susceptibilities and GSTM1 gene polymorphisms, for gene-environment interactions. Future studies are needed to examine gene-environment interactions for GSTM1 interacting with environmental factors and dietary interventions to mitigate the toxic effects, for LC prevention.