Chinese Journal of Cancer (Aug 2016)

Association of microRNA polymorphisms with the risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in a Chinese population: a case–control study

  • Limin Miao,
  • Lihua Wang,
  • Longbiao Zhu,
  • Jiangbo Du,
  • Xun Zhu,
  • Yuming Niu,
  • Ruixia Wang,
  • Zhibin Hu,
  • Ning Chen,
  • Hongbing Shen,
  • Hongxia Ma

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40880-016-0136-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 35, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract Background MicroRNA (miRNA) polymorphisms may alter miRNA-related processes, and they likely contribute to cancer susceptibility. Various studies have investigated the associations between genetic variants in several key miRNAs and the risk of human cancers; however, few studies have focused on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) risk. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between several key miRNA polymorphisms and HNSCC risk in a Chinese population. Methods In this study, we genotyped five common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in several key miRNAs (miR-149 rs2292832, miR-146a rs2910164, miR-605 rs2043556, miR-608 rs4919510, and miR-196a2 rs11614913) and evaluated the associations between these SNPs and HNSCC risk according to cancer site with a case–control study including 576 cases and 1552 controls, which were matched by age and sex in a Chinese population. Results The results revealed that miR-605 rs2043556 [dominant model: adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58–0.88; additive model: adjusted OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.62–0.89] and miR-196a2 rs11614913 (dominant model: adjusted OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.08–1.72; additive model: adjusted OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.10–1.48) were significantly associated with the risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Furthermore, when these two loci were evaluated together based on the number of putative risk alleles (rs2043556 A and rs11614913 G), a significant locus-dosage effect was noted on the risk of OSCC (P trend < 0.001). However, no significant association was detected between the other three SNPs (miR-149 rs2292832, miR-146a rs2910164, and miR-608 rs4919510) and HNSCC risk. Conclusion Our study provided the evidence that miR-605 rs2043556 and miR-196a2 rs11614913 may have an impact on genetic susceptibility to OSCC in Chinese population.

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