The genetic polymorphisms of HER-2 and the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population.
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.
Jo
Uk Hyun
UH
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
Han
Sle Gi Lo
SG
Seo
Jae Hong
JH
Park
Kyong Hwa
KH
Lee
Jae Won
JW
Lee
Hyo Jung
HJ
Ryu
Jeong Seon
JS
Kim
Yeul Hong
YH
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
D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human