Association of microRNA Polymorphisms with the Risk of Gastric Cancer in a Romanian Population.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the occurrence and progression of human cancers, including gastric cancer. Our hospital-based case-control study aimed to investigate whether four commonly studied single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have effects on susceptibility to gastric cancer in a Romanian population.

METHOD

We genotyped the miR-27a rs895819, miR-146a rs2910164, miR-196a2 rs11614913 and miR-499 rs3746444 SNPs by real-time PCR using predesignated TaqMan assays in 430 individuals (142 gastric cancer patients and 288 age and gender matched cancer-free controls). The associations between the investigated miRNA SNPs and gastric cancer risk were assessed by odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

A higher frequency of the miR-27a rs895819 CC genotype (OR 1.98, 95% CI: 1.05-3.73, p=0.036) was found in the patients with gastric cancer compared with the controls. Similar results were observed in a recessive model, the CC genotype was correlated with gastric cancer susceptibility (OR 1.95, 95% CI: 1.07-3.55, p=0.032). In the stratified analysis, the association between miR-27a rs895819 SNP and gastric cancer risk was limited to noncardia (OR 2.08, 95% CI: 1.10-3.94, p=0.027) and intestinal (OR 2.27, 95% CI: 1.05-4.92, p=0.042) subgroups. However, after Bonferroni correction, all associations described above lost statistical significance. No correlation was observed for the remaining SNPs and risk of gastric cancer in any genetic model studied.

CONCLUSION

This study showed no association of the investigated miRNA SNPs with the risk of gastric cancer in a Romanian population.