Polymorphic Variation in GST Genes and Risk of CML in the Kashmiri Population

Chronic myeloid leukemia or chronic myelocytic leukemia ( Ghanei and Vosoghi, 2002) is a type of blood or bone marrow cancer which is characterized by an abnormal increase of white blood cells, by the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome and the t(9;22)(q34;q11) translocation (Rowley,1973; Faderl et al., 1999). CML is more prevalent in males as compared to females (Redaelli et al., 2004). A number of factors have been implicated to play role in the development of this disease. Several studies have shown the assoc iation between genetic alteration/s in the precursor hematopoietic cells with the risk to develop CML ( Meggyesi et al., 2011). Exposure to endogenous or exogenous toxic substances can lead to genetic alterations and hence increased susceptibility to cancer. Cells have developed an effective mechanism to prevent accumulation of damaging xenobiotics by way of their elimination catalyzed by multiple enzyme