title: Genetic variants at 6p21.1 are associated with head and neck cancer in Chinese Han population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A recent study synthesized several published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on three types of cancers and identified variants at 6p21.1 and 7p15.3 as candidate susceptibility loci for multiple types of human cancers. However, the role of these loci in the development of head and neck cancer (HNC) is still unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  To evaluate the relationships between genetic variants in these regions and HNC risk, we genotyped two common SNPs rs2494938 at 6p21.1 and rs2285947 at 7p15.3 in a case-control study with a total of 503 HNC cases and 900 controls in Han Chinese.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that rs2494938 at 6p21.1 was associated with a significantly increased risk of HNC in our population [AA vs. GG: adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.84, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.13-3.00, P=0.014; AAvs.
  adjusted OR=1.78, 95% CI=1.10-2.87, P=0.018]. However, no significant association was observed between rs2285947 at 7p15.3 and HNC risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that genetic variants at 6p21.1 may play an important role in HNC development in Han Chinese, and rs2494938 may be a candidate marker for HNC susceptibility.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Ruixia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China Section of Clinical Epidemiology, Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Cancer Centre, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Longbiao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China Section of Clinical Epidemiology, Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Cancer Centre, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China Section of Clinical Epidemiology, Jiangsu Key Lab of Cancer Biomarkers, Prevention and Treatment, Cancer Centre, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D002896:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6; D002897:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7; D005260:Female; D056426:Genetic Loci; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D014644:Genetic Variation; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005838:Genotype; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
keywords: Variants; head and neck cancer; risk; susceptibility