Brief Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Sep 21, 2010; 16(35): 4448-4454
Published online Sep 21, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i35.4448
p73 G4C14 to A4T14 polymorphism is associated with colorectal cancer risk and survival
Kyung-Eun Lee, Young-Seoub Hong, Byoung-Gwon Kim, Na-Young Kim, Kyoung-Mu Lee, Jong-Young Kwak, Mee-Sook Roh
Kyung-Eun Lee, Department of Clinical Laboratory Science College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan, Busan 609-757, South Korea
Young-Seoub Hong, Byoung-Gwon Kim, Na-Young Kim, Department of Preventive Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan 602-714, South Korea
Kyoung-Mu Lee, Clinical Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, South Korea
Jong-Young Kwak, Medical Research Center for Cancer Molecular Therapy, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan 602-714, South Korea
Mee-Sook Roh, Department of Pathology, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan 602-714, South Korea
Author contributions: Lee KE, Hong YS and Roh MS contributed equally to this work; Hong YS and Roh MS designed the research; Lee KE and Kim NY performed the research; Kwak JY and Kim BG provided analytic tools; Lee KM analyzed the data; Lee KE, Hong YS and Roh MS wrote the paper.
Supported by The Korea Science and Engineering Foundation through the MRCCMT at Dong-A University
Correspondence to: Young-Seoub Hong, MD, Department of Preventive Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, 1, Dongdaeshin-dong 3ga, Seo-gu, Busan 602-715, South Korea. yshong@dau.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-51-2402888 Fax: +82-51-2535729
Received: April 22, 2010
Revised: June 11, 2010
Accepted: June 18, 2010
Published online: September 21, 2010
Abstract

AIM: To analyze the association between the p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism (a.k.a., the GC/AT variation) and colorectal cancer risk and survival in the Korean population, and to evaluate the relationships between p73 polymorphism and the p73 protein expression or clinicopathological characteristics of colorectal cancer.

METHODS: Three hundred and eighty-three histologically confirmed cases and 469 healthy controls, recruited at one teaching hospital in Pusan, Korea from 2001 and 2007, were genotyped for p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 by PCR with confronting two-pair primers (PCR-CTPP) and the expression profile of p73 in cancer tissues (n = 383) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS: Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by unconditional logistic regression model adjusted for age and gender. Compared with the GC/GC genotypes, the GC/AT and AT/AT genotypes were significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk (GC/AT vs GC/GC: OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.10-1.94; AT/AT vs GC/GC: 1.72, 0.98-3.03; Ptrend = 0.01). When stratified by age and gender, the association was restricted to those less than 60 years of age (GC/AT or AT/AT vs GC/GC: 2.22, 1.39-3.55) and male (GC/AT or AT/AT vs GC/GC: 1.91, 1.31-2.77). The expression of p73 was associated with invasion depth (P = 0.003) and advanced Duke’s stage (P = 0.06) of colorectal cancer. The patients with the GC/GC genotype were associated with worse survival compared with those with the other genotypes (P = 0.02). However, no significant relationship was observed between the p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism and p73 protein expression in cancer tissues.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the p73 GC/AT polymorphism is associated with an increased colorectal cancer risk and survival in the Korean population.

Keywords: p73 G4C14 to A4T14 polymorphism, Colorectal cancer