Effect of Bleomycin Hydrolase Gene Polymorphism on Late Pulmonary Complications of Treatment for Hodgkin Lymphoma

BACKGROUND Bleomycin hydrolase (BLMH), an enzyme that inactivates bleomycin, may be a potential candidate that could influence pulmonary function in ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastin, dacarbasine)-treated Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We hypothesized that the BLMH gene SNP A1450G (rs1050565) influences BLMH activity and late pulmonary toxicity. St. George Respiratory Questionnaire, lung scintigraphy and spirometry were used to determine lung function. TaqMan genotyping assay was used to determine genotype distribution of 131 previously treated HL patients. RESULTS Significantly more favorable results were seen in the wild-type A/A genotype group than those in the group containing the mutated allele: A/G+G/G in retrospective pulmonary tests of ABVD treated patients. CONCLUSION Besides limitations of the current study, bleomycin pharmacokinetics should be further evaluated in patients with BLMH variations, hence identify those cases even in the frontline setting, where bleomycin should be omitted and replaced with targeted therapy.