Abstract
CYP3A4 is a member of the cytochrome P450 supergene family that mediates the metabolism of numerous compounds involved in human carcinogenesis, including steroid hormones such as testosterone. Recently, a variant in the 5′ regulatory region of CYP3A4 (CYP3A4-V) was reported to confer higher stage prostate tumors compared with homozygous wild-type CYP3A4 (CYP3A4-W) in both Caucasians and African-Americans (1,2). To date, these associations have not been supported by data that address the functional significance of this polymorphism.