Lethal-7-related polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to and prognosis of gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND

The lethal-7 () family members and their targets are involved in the development and progression of tumors. -related polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with tumorigenesis and prognosis. In gastric cancer, however, the related studies are limited.

AIM

To investigate the role of -related microRNA polymorphisms in the tumorigenesis and prognosis of gastric cancer in a Chinese population.

METHODS

A total of 898 gastric cancer patients and 992 tumor-free controls were recruited into this study from 2008 to 2013. Gastric cancer patients were followed periodically. Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene region or their target mRNAs were genotyped using the MassARRAY system and their associations with the risk for or overall survival of gastric cancer were analyzed.

RESULTS

All the ten SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The C allele of the rs3811463 polymorphism in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of was associated with a lower risk of gastric cancer [odds ratio (OR) = 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.61-0.88, = 0.001] after adjustment for age and status. Seven hundred and thirty-five gastric cancer patients who had undergone radical tumorectomy were included in the survival analysis and their 5-year survival rate was 53.9% (95%CI: 50.1%-57.6%). The rs10889677 in the 3'-UTR of was corresponded to the prognosis of gastric cancer in a dose-response manner, in which the death risk increased by 25% [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.25, 95%CI: 1.04-1.45, = 0.011] with each increase in the number of C alleles after controlling for other potential clinicopathological parameters.

CONCLUSION

The -related polymorphism rs3811463 in is associated with the susceptibility to gastric cancer and the -related polymorphism rs10889677 in is associated with the prognosis of gastric cancer.