Oxidative stress is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular cancer (HCC), a frequent complication of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In hepatocytes of ALD patients, we recently detected by immunohistochemistry significantly increased levels of carcinogenic etheno-DNA adducts that are formed by the reaction of the major lipid peroxidation product, 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) with nucleobases. In the current study, we show that protein-bound 4-HNE and etheno-DNA adducts both strongly correlate with cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) expression in patients with ALD (r ؍ 0.9, P < 0.01). Increased levels of etheno-DNA adducts were also detected in the liver of alcohol-fed lean (
E xcess consumption of alcohol is widespread inWestern countries and, in the United States, alcohol abuse affects approximately 18 million adults. 1 The consumption of more than 80 g ethanol per day for more than 10 years increases the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by approximately fivefold. 2 Worldwide, HCC is one of the most common malignant tumors, ranking as the seventh most prevalent in men and the ninth in women. The risk for HCC in decompensated alcohol-induced cirrhosis is approximately 1% to 2% per year. 2 Although the evolution of alcohol-related HCC involves several factors, 3,4 including the presence of cirrhosis, oxidative stress, disturbed DNA methylation, and defective retinoic acid signaling, the precise mechanisms at a molecular level by which alcohol causes HCC are poorly understood. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified ethanol as a human (group 1) carcinogen, because it induces HCC (among other tumors) in animals and increases the risk for developing HCC in humans. 3,5,6