The VEGF -634G>C promoter polymorphism is associated with risk of gastric cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both TGF-β1 and VEGF play a critic role in the multiple-step process of tumorgenesis of gastric cancer. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the <it>TGFB1 </it>and <it>VEGF </it>genes have been associated with risk and progression of many cancers. In this study, we investigated the association between potentially functional SNPs of these two genes and risk of gastric cancer in a US population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The risk associated with genotypes and haplotypes of four <it>TGFB1 </it>SNPs and four <it>VEGF </it>SNPs were determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis in 171 patients with gastric cancer and 353 cancer-free controls frequency-matched by age, sex and ethnicity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared with the <it>VEGF</it>-634GG genotype, the -634CG genotype and the combined -634CG+CC genotypes were associated with a significantly elevated risk of gastric cancer (adjusted OR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.24-2.86 and adjusted OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.07-2.27, respectively). However, none of other <it>TGFB1 </it>and <it>VEGF </it>SNPs was associated with risk of gastric cancer.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data suggested that the <it>VEGF</it>-634G>C SNP may be a marker for susceptibility to gastric cancer, and this finding needs to be validated in larger studies.</p