Medina Hernandez, Brithany

Title:
Association between the Breakdown of Alcohol and Liver Cancer Cases in Asian Populations

Abstract:
From 1990 to 2010, cancer deaths due to alcohol consumption have dramatically increased by more than 90,000 deaths, accounting for 4.2% of all cancer deaths in the world. Therefore, in recent years many studies have focused on mutations in genes that code for enzymes that may impact the development of these cancers, specifically Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH). ADH and ALDH enzymes both have different genes that oversee the break down of alcohol in the body. However, the ALDH2 gene has a mutation, ALDH2 *2 allele, which has been shown to be mostly prominent in Asian populations. With cancer being the leading cause of death in Asian countries, our literature-based research provides evidence for the possibility of the ALDH2 polymorphism having an association with cancers related to alcohol consumption, specifically liver cancer in Asian populations. A positive correlation between the ALDH2 polymorphism and liver cancer could indicate that screening individuals for the ALDH2 *2 gene mutation could help decrease the number of people developing cancers related to alcohol intake in Asian populations.