A functional polymorphism in  PER3 gene is associated with prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have revealed that circadian genes play important roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle control, DNA damage response and treatment response of chemotherapy agents in cancers.


OBJECTIVE
We hypothesized that the polymorphisms in circadian genes may be associated with prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE).


METHODS
Twelve functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in circadian negative feedback regulation genes (including CRY1, CRY2, PER1, PER2 and PER3) were genotyped using Sequenom iPLEX genotyping method in 337 HCC patients treated with TACE and analysed for associations with overall survival.


RESULTS
Our data showed that one SNP rs2640908 in PER3 gene was significantly associated with overall survival of HCC patients (P = 0.027). Patients carrying at least one variant allele of rs2640908 (WV + VV) had a significantly decreased risk of death (hazard ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.53-0.90), when compared with those carrying homozygous wild-type alleles (WW). Kaplan-Meier analyses showed a significantly longer median survival time in patients with WV + VV genotypes of SNP rs2640908 than those with WW genotype (11.6 months vs. 8.1 months; log rank P = 0.030). In addition, we also observed a significant difference on the genotype distribution of SNP rs2640908 in patients with and without portal vein thrombus (P = 0.041).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study provides the first evidence that a single functional polymorphism of PER3 gene is significantly associated with overall survival in HCC patients treated with TACE.
Department of Pain Medicine, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Binyu
B
Zhao
Jianguo
J
Lu
Jikai
J
Yin
Hanqiang
H
Liu
Xu
X
Guo
Yefa
Y
Yang
Naijian
N
Ge
Yong
Y
Zhu
Hongxin
H
Zhang
Jinliang
J
Xing
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult
C512644:PER3 protein, human; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins