title: The genetic polymorphisms of HER-2 and the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER-2; also known as erbB-2 or neu), a proto-oncogene of the receptor tyrosine kinase superfamily, has been associated with carcinogenesis and prognosis of human cancers, acting as a binding partner of other epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family in the activation of EGFR signaling. Amplification of the HER-2 gene has been reported in lung cancer, where it has been associated with poor prognosis. In this study, we investigated whether the four polymorphisms (-3444C>T, -1985 G>T, I655A A>G and P1170A C>G) of the HER-2 gene are associated with the risk of lung cancer in Korean populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The frequencies of 4 polymorphisms of the HER-2 gene were examined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism or the single-nucleotide polymorphism-identification technology assay in the 407 lung cancer patients and 407 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequencies of the 4 polymorphisms were not significantly different between patient and control groups in overall subjects. However, in the subgroup analysis, the 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (-3444C>T, -1985G>T and P1170A C>G) showed statistically significant differences in the subgroups of females, non-smokers, and non-drinkers (p < 0.05). Additionally, we found the association between the risk of lung cancer and the polymorphisms of HER-2 gene in non-smoker subgroups with adenocarcinoma (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the polymorphisms of the HER-2 gene are associated with an increased susceptibility to lung cancer in females, non-smokers and non-drinkers subgroups in the Korean population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Division of Brain Korea 21 Project for Biomedical Science, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. jo1981@korea.ac.kr
authors.forename: Uk Hyun
authors.initials: UH
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Sle Gi Lo
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jae Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Kyong Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jae Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyo Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jeong Seon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Yeul Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human