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One of the main functions of alpha 1-antitrypsin (A1AT) is to inhibit the activity of most proteases. It has been suggested that a deficiency in this protein may favor invasion by cancer cells--consequently, individuals with A1AT-deficient alleles (null, S and Z) may be at greater risk of tumoral invasion due to their lower capacity of response to proteolytic enzymes. This work examines the frequencies of A1AT phenotypes in breast cancer (BC) patients. A sample of patients classified as having infiltrative ductal carcinoma was chosen to be studied as it is a highly invasive tumor, and a sample of patients with BC and a familial history of cancer has also been studied. An increase in the frequency of A1AT-deficient phenotypes was not observed in any of the three groups. One possible explanation could be the immunosuppressive activity of A1AT.

The 3 red-cell polymorphic systems acid phosphatase (ACP), adenosine deaminase (ADA) and esterase D (ESD) have been studied in a random sample of 1,112 individuals from the Basque country: The allelic frequencies obtained were ACP*A = 0.275, ACP*B = 0.718 and ACP*C = 0.007; ADA*2 = 0.021, and, ESD*2 = 0.066. The allelic frequencies have been compared with those of other Basque and other European populations. In comparison with Basques, significant differences were detected only for ACP, whereas as regards other Europeans significant differences were obtained with practically all the populations compared for the 3 genetic systems studied. The low values of the less frequent alleles, especially that for the ACP*C allele which is the lowest reported in Europe, are noteworthy.

No association between glyoxalase I and haptoglobin phenotypes was found in 9 Spanish populations. This is in accordance with two out of three papers published.

Human red cell delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALADH; EC 4.2.1.24) polymorphism was studied in three population samples of the Basque Country. The frequency of the ALADH2 was around 0.08 and similar to that in other European countries.