title: Association of IL-12p40 +1188 A/C polymorphism with nasopharyngeal cancer risk and tumor extension.
abstract: The interleukin 12 (IL-12) cytokine, encoded by polymorphic genes, plays a central role in the T helper 1 cell-mediated immunity against tumors. We investigated whether the 3' untranslated region +1188 A/C polymorphism (rs 3212227) influences the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) risk in Tunisian patients. DNA analysis of 247 patients and 284 healthy individuals showed a higher frequency of the 1188 C allele and the CC genotype in patients than in controls (P = 0.00001 and P = 0.00005) suggesting that the C variant allele is associated with the susceptibility to NPC. Additional testing showed that the homozygous CC genotype is also associated with advanced stage of the tumor extension at presentation (P = 0.022). Our data suggest that the impaired production of IL-12 behaves as a risk factor for NPC occurrence and progression.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biology Department, Salah Azaiz Institute of Cancer, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben Chaaben
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Busson
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Douik
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Boukouaci
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mamoghli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chaouch
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harzallah
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dorra
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghanem
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Charron
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krishnamoorthy
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guemira
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tamouza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40