title: The interleukin-1 beta gene polymorphism +3953 C/T is not associated with risk for oral cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Elevated serum levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) have been previously observed in patients with oral cancer. Considering the demonstrated effect of other interleukins to the development of oral cancer, this study investigated whether the +3953 C/Tpolymorphism in the IL-1beta gene is associated with this malignancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The +3953 C/T polymorphism was examined in DNA samples of 108 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 156 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The detected allele and carrier frequencies of the high expression T allele in the control group were 28.8% and 48.1%, respectively. In the patient group there was a slight decrease both in allele and carrier frequencies (24.1% and 38.9%, respectively), but these findings were not statistically significant. The same pattern was observed in subgroups of patients regarding cancer stage, family history of cancer or thrombosis, as well as smoking or heavy drinking habits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The +3953 C/T polymorphism, was not found to be associated with risk for oral cancer. It seems that IL-1beta does not play a primary role in oral oncogenesis, since other interleukins, already associated with this malignancy, appear to exert a more prominent effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Athens Medical School, Vas. Sofias 93 and Dim. Soutsou 1, Athens 11521, Greece. lvairakt@med.uoa.gr
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vairaktaris
authors.forename: Zoe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Serefoglou
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yapijakis
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stathopoulos
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vassiliou
authors.forename: Spyridoula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Derka
authors.forename: Emeka
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nkenke
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vylliotis
authors.forename: Vasilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ragos
authors.forename: Friedrich W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Neukam
authors.forename: Efstratios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Patsouris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D053583:Interleukin-1beta