, , and Gene Polymorphisms on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Susceptibility in the Chinese Population.

The interleukin- (IL-) 33/ axis plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis through influencing cancer stemness and other mechanisms. is one of the critical markers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among the cancer stem cells (CSCs). There is still a lack of gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) combined with / pathway single-nucleotide polymorphisms in HCC susceptibility analysis literature, although and / have been reported separately in human cancers. This study is aimed at investigating the relationship between , , and SNPs and HCC susceptibility and clinicopathological features. We analyzed 565 HCC patients and 561 healthy controls in the Chinese population. The genes for rs187115A>G, rs1929992A>G, and rs3821204G>C were typed using the SNaPshot method. We found that the distribution frequencies of and alleles and genotypes in both the HCC case group and the control group were statistically significant ( < 0.05). The results showed that individuals carrying at least one G allele of the rs187115 gene were at a higher risk than the AA genotype carriers ( = 0.007, odds ratio (OR) = 1.429, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.102-1.854). Similarly, individuals with at least one C allele of rs3821204 had a higher risk of HCC than those with GG genes ( ≤ 0.001, OR = 1.647, 95% CI: 1.296-2.093). Combining the haplotype analysis of the 3 loci suggested that rs187115, rs1929992, and rs3821204 are associated with the risk of HCC and could potentially serve as useful genetic markers for HCC in some populations of China.