A Biomarker of Past Benzene Exposure?
In their paper "Benzene-induced mutational pattern in the tumour suppressor gene TP53 analysed by use of a functional assay, the functional analysis of separated alleles in yeast, in human lung cells" Billet et al hypothesize that benzene-induced leukemia is the result of one or more mutations in the tumor suppressor gene known as TP53. They then report on their efforts to identify mutations in TP53 caused by benzene or its metabolites. It turns out that of the mutations linked to benzene exposure it is those in which guanine is substituted for adenine (A>G) that produce a pattern similar to that seen in benzene-induced acute myelogenous leukemia.
The authors conclude by suggesting that such an A>G transition could be "a fingerprint of benzene" that might help identify cases of AML produced by very low levels of past benzene exposure.
