Abstract
The present study aimed to experimentally confirm that long-term alcohol drinking causes a high risk of oral and esophageal cancer in aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2)-deficient individuals. Aldh2 knockout mice, an animal model of ALDH2-deficiency, were treated with 8% ethanol for 14 months. Levels of acetaldehyde-derived DNA adducts were increased in esophagus, tongue and submandibular gland. Our finding that a lack of Aldh2 leads to more DNA damage after chronic ethanol treatment in mice supports epidemiological findings on the carcinogenicity of alcohol in ALDH2-deficient individuals who drink chronically.
Declarations of interest
This study was supported in part by Grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology of Japan (18390187 and 20590620 to T.O. and T.K.). It was also funded in partby a grant to research the association between the risk of upper aero-digestive tract cancer and alcohol-metabolizing enzymes, and its clinical significance (to T.O. and T.M.), number 20-10. The authors report no declarations of interest.