Genetic variants in SLC7A7 are associated with risk of glioma in a Chinese population.

Dysregulation of the amino acid transporter SLC7A7 is involved in multiple types of cancer including gliobastoma (GBM), the most malignant form of glioma. We hypothesized that SLC7A7 genetic variants may influence glioma risk. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a case-control study in 736 incident glioma cases and 793 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population by genotyping 22 common single nucleotide polymorphisms in SLC7A7. In single-locus analysis, we found an increased risk was associated with the variant genotypes of rs12888930 (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.54, P = 0.034), rs12433985 (adjusted OR = 1.38, 95%CI = 1.13-1.70), rs2065134 (adjusted OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.05-1.95) in a dominant genetic model and rs12436190 (adjusted OR = 1.37, 95%CI 1.06-1.77) in a recessive model. Multivariate analysis confirmed that rs12433985 and rs2065134 were significant and independent risk factor for glioma as well as GBM subtype (for rs12433985, OR = 1.21, 95%CI 1.04-1.42, P = 0.016 for all types of gliomas and P = 0.013, OR = 1.30, 95%CI 1.06-1.60 for GBM. For rs2065134, OR = 1.39, 95%CI 1.02-1.89, P = 0.039 for all types of gliomas and OR = 1.66, 95%CI 1.12-2.24, P = 0.011). These results, for the first time, provide suggestive evidence of polymorphisms in SLC7A7 is involved in the aetiology of glioma.