[Determination of the N-acetyltransferase phenotype in urothelial cancer patients and healthy controls].

Several arylamines can act as human urothelial carcinogen and N-acetyltransferase, human liver enzyme, might play a role in the detoxication of these carcinogenic substances. N-acetyltransferase phenotype in man is genetically regulated and divided into the rapid type and the slow type. The N-acetyltransferase phenotype was determined to investigate the susceptibility for bladder cancer in the slow acetylator phenotype using the method reported by Weber and Brenner. The frequency of the slow acetylators was 16 of the 144 subjects (11.1%); 1 of the 25 controls (4.0%), 10 of the 57 chemical workers (17.5%), 3 of the 42 spontaneous urothelial cancer patients (7.1%) and 2 of the 20 occupational urothelial cancer patients (10.0%). These results showed no significant association between the slow acetylator phenotype and the urothelial cancer. These results seemed to be caused by the low ratio of the slow acetylator in Japanese people.