Study on the association between PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway gene polymorphism and susceptibility to gastric cancer.

PURPOSE

Excessive activation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway is one of the most common changes in human cancers, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) existing in its functional region can affect the occurrence process of a variety of cancers. This study aimed to screen out the SNPs associated with susceptibility to gastric cancer in the PI3K/AKT/mT0R signaling pathway.

METHODS

In this case-control study, the tagging SNPs in the promoter region5'-UTR, exon region or 3'-UTR of PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3R1, PIK3R2, PIK3R3, AKT1, AKT2, AKT3 and mTOR genes were screened out. The relationship between the genetic variation of PI3K/AKT/mT0R signaling pathway genes and the susceptibility to gastric cancer in Chinese Han population was investigated by this casecontrol study.

RESULTS

The results showed that the polymorphisms of the two loci, PIK3R3 rs7536272 (Additive model: OR=1.16, 95% CI=1.01-1.35) and mTOR rs2295080 (GG vs TT: OR=0.75, 95% CI=0.60-0.94; Additive model: OR=0.78, 95% CI=0.66- 0.93), were associated with the risk of gastric cancer in the studied population and there was a combined effect between the two loci (ptrend=0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, the polymorphisms of the two loci, PIK3R3 rs7536272 and mTOR rs2295080, on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway genes are associated with genetic susceptibility to gastric cancer in Chinese population.