Ž . Mutation Research 428 1999 131–140 www.elsevier.comrlocatermolmut Community address: www.elsevier.comrlocatermutres Inheritance of polymorphic metabolizing genes on environmental disease and quality of life William W. Au ) , Carlos H. Sierra-Torres, Nohelia Cajas-Salazar, Salama A. Salama Department of PreÕentiÕe Medicine and Community Health, The UniÕersity of Texas Medical Branch, GalÕeston, TX 77555-1110, USA Received 29 November 1998; accepted 26 February 1999 Abstract From investigations based on the human genome and the environmental genome programs, genetic basis for individual differences in response to environmental mutagens is being characterized. Inheritance of variant versions of certain polymorphic genes is frequently associated with the development of environmental disease, such as lung cancer from cigarette smoking. Inheritance of these alleles may also affect the quality of life such as longevity. Evidence in support of these possibilities is presented. It is obvious that through the understanding of susceptibility, more precise disease prevention strategies can be implemented which will not only reduce the disease burden but also improve the quality of life. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Genetic susceptibility; Chromosome aberration; Cigarette smoking; Occupational exposure; Environmental disease; Quality of life 1. Introduction As the disease burden from infectious agents on the human population is better controlled, alleviation of the burden from other sources is taking on a higher priority. A current attention is focused on environmental disease. A perennial interest is lung w x cancer 1,2 . Lung cancer is now the leading cause for cancer death among males and females in the United States, and accounts for more mortality than Ž the next three leading cancer deaths combined colon, ) Corresponding author. Tel.: q1-409-772-1545; Fax: q1-409- 772-9108; E-mail: william.au@utmb.edu . breast and prostate . Lung cancer also has poor prognosis with overall survival of approximately 15% compared with 62% for colon, 84% for breast and 89% for prostate. Despite major effort in developing early diagnostic protocol and in improving therapeu- tic procedures, their impact on reducing lung cancer wx mortality has been limited 3 . The ongoing cigarette smoking reduction campaign has apparently reached its limits since smoking levels among adults have w x remained constant since 1990 4,5 and teenage smoking has been increasing. Therefore, additional and different approaches for the control of lung cancer and other environmental disease need to be used for reducing environmental disease burden and for improving the quality of life. 0027-5107r99r$ - see front matter q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S1383-5742 99 00041-1