title: Association between p21 codon 31 polymorphism and esophageal cancer risk in a Taiwanese population.
abstract: P21, which regulates the cell growth cycle, is crucial for normal growth and differentiation. One polymorphism in the p21 codon 31 produces variant proteins with an amino acid change (serine (ser) or arginine (arg)). Although several epidemiologic studies have examined the effect of this polymorphism on cancer risk, the findings remain inconclusive, which has motivated us to evaluate the relationship between p21 codon 31 polymorphism and esophageal cancer risk. In this study, 128 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 178 control cases from two hospitals in southern Taiwan were genotyped. Frequencies of arg/arg, arg/ser and ser/ser were 23 (18.0%), 62 (48.4%) and 43 (33.6%) in carcinoma cases and 51 (28.6%), 84 (47.2%) and 43 (24.2%) in control cases, respectively. After factoring out other potential contributing factors, patients with ser/ser or arg/ser were 2.17 times more at risk (95% CI=1.03-4.56) for developing esophageal cancer than those with arg/arg. Males (n=274) were found to have a slightly stronger association (adjusted OR=2.45; 95% CI=1.03-5.80). Although the sample size is relatively small, these findings suggest that a codon 31 polymorphism in p21 may be associated with the development of esophageal cancer.
authors: Department of Occupational Medicine, Graduate Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC. mingtsangwu@yahoo.com
authors: Ming-Tsang
authors: MT
authors: Wu
authors: Deng-Chyang
authors: DC
authors: Wu
authors: Hon-Ki
authors: HK
authors: Hsu
authors: Ein-Long
authors: EL
authors: Kao
authors: Chien-Hui
authors: CH
authors: Yang
authors: Jang-Ming
authors: JM
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics*; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D016213:Cyclins / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: C493956:CDKN1A protein, human; D003062:Codon; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D016213:Cyclins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm