A number of polymorphisms in CYP2E1 have been tested in relation to alcoholism and a number of related disorders, including many types of cancer, with varying, often conflicting, results. Carriers of the c2 allele of CYP2E1*5B have increased risk for alcoholic liver disease and are more likely to consume excessive amounts of alcohol possibly due to the higher transcriptional levels of CYP2E1 seen with this allele (Grove et al., 1998; Pirmohamed et al., 1995; Watanabe et al., 1994). Variants in the gene have been implicated in the increased risk of different types of cancer relating to the respiratory and digestive systems (Bouchardy et al., 2000; Liu et al., 2001; Yu et al., 1995).
