RUNX3 polymorphism present in human oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is characterized by high incidence, mortality, post-management recurrence and metastatic rates as well as poor prognosis. This study was designed to identify molecular diagnostic and predictive signatures of OSCC in Nigerian cases. It was a retrospective-prospective case-control study spanning a 12 year period using 74 OSCC tissue blocks as well as benign epithelial lesions which served as control from which DNA was extracted and profiled for rs7528484 and rs760805 in RUNX3 gene by restriction fragment length polymorphism-PCR. Demography of the tissue blocks was recorded. Computed data were presented as frequencies/percentages. Association between RUNX3 polymorphism and patient's gender, age, tumor location, histology was assessed by Pearson's χ2 test at α0.05, Monte-Carlo exact test and Odds Ratios (OR) at Confidence Interval (CI) of 95%. Only rs7528484 was successfully genotyped with a distribution of 52.7% homozygote normal (CC), 28.4% heterozygote mutant (CT) and 18.9% homozygote mutant (TT). Gender and histology was generally significantly associated with genotypes/alleles. Genotypes CT and TT as well as the mutant allele T, showed odds of predicting OSCC. It appears that rs7528484 in RUNX3 might be common in patients suffering from OSCC. Individuals carrying the mutant allele could also be more susceptible to OSCC development.

Keywords

• Oral squamous cell carcinoma
• RUNX3 genotypes
• Restriction fragment length polymorphism
• Homozygote
• Heterozygote