Tumor necrosis factor-alpha promoter polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to oral squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the leading cancers in most Asian countries. Alterations of immune function have been detected in OSCC patients. The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a central mediator of the immune response involved in a wide range of immuno-inflammatory and infectious diseases. Polymorphism of the TNF-alpha gene has been intensively studied as a potential determinant of susceptibility to numerous cancers.


METHODS
We genotyped 192 patients with OSCC and 146 healthy case controls by using polymerase chain reaction-double restriction fragment length polymorphism with amplification-created restriction sites to assess allelic determinants at the TNF-alpha polymorphic sites -308 and -238 in the promoter region. Genotype frequencies were evaluated with Fisher's test.


RESULTS
The -308 TNFG (tumor necrosis factor G) allele genotype was higher in patients with OSCC (91.2% vs. 82.2%; P = 0.02) and TNFG/A was lower (8.3% vs. 11.8%; P = 0.02); the -238 TNFG/A allele genotype was lower in patient with OSCC (2.1% vs. 6.9%; P = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first report that the TNF-alpha polymorphism is associated with the risk for OSCC in Taiwan.
Liu
Chung-Ji
CJ
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Taipei Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wong
Yong-Kie
YK
Chang
Kuo-Wei
KW
Chang
Hsiao-Ching
HC
Liu
Hsin-Fu
HF
Lee
Yann-Jinn
YJ
D000225:Adenine; D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006147:Guanine; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D006147:Guanine; D000225:Adenine