title: Landscape of NAT2 polymorphisms among breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prevalence of phenotypes of Arylamine N-acetyltransferase-2(NAT2) gene (i.e. fast, intermediate and slow acetylators) among ethnic groups, as well as the association studies regarding NAT2 polymorphisms and risk of breast cancer produced inconsistent results. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify whether the selected NAT2 phenotypes have an effect on the susceptibility to breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  After aggregating the frequencies of fast, intermediate and slow phenotypes of NAT2 in breast cancer subjects, the odds ratio and relevant 95% confidence intervals were examined using combined data from all published 36 articles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, our results did not produce statistical significance for the proposed association, suggesting that there is no association between the selected phenotypes of NAT2 polymorphisms and breast cancer. In subgroup analyses, it was revealed that, as compared with the fast phenotype, intermediate acetylator is protective of the vulnerable White population to breast cancer. In addition, an obvious ethnic/geographic difference was found in the prevalence of fast, intermediate and slow acetylators among world-wide populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although ethnic and geographic differences in NAT2 polymorphisms were present, this was not associated with the risk of breast cancer in general. Intermediate acetylator is protective for particular ethnic groups, a finding which should be carefully viewed and confirmed in the future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA. Electronic address: twang18@uthsc.edu.
authors.forename: Tengfei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, P.O. Box: 2713, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Hany E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Marei
mesh_terms: D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005838:Genotype; D062305:Geographic Mapping; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase; C478900:NAT2 protein, human
keywords: Breast cancer; Ethnic; Frequency; Geographic difference; NAT2; Polymorphism