Role of the VDR Bsm I and Apa I polymorphisms in the risk of colorectal cancer in Kashmir.

Objective: A case-control study aiming to evaluate the relationship between Bsm I and Apa I restriction fragment gene polymorphisms and colorectal cancer (CRC) was carried out in Kashmir, including a total of 368 subjects (180 cases and 188 controls).

Methods: DNA samples extracted from the blood of the subjects were analyzed for 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) Apa I and Bsm I polymorphisms using restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR).

Results: A statistically significant 2.

Association of a VDR gene polymorphism with risk of colorectal cancer in Kashmir.

Roles of the vitamin D receptor in etiology of cancers, including colorectal cancer, have been repeatedly stressed in different parts of the world. A case control study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the two was therefore initiated in Kashmir, known both for its increasing incidence of gastrointestinal cancers and deficiency of micro-nutrients especially vitamin D. The study included a total of 617 subjects (312 colorectal cancer cases and 305 controls), with sampling carried out over a period of 5 years.

ECRG1 and its relationship with esophageal cancer: a brief review.

Esophageal cancer ranks 8th among the most frequently occurring cancers of the world. The exact cause of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is unknown; however, some factors like smoking, alcohol intake, consumption of fungal-contaminated, spicy, or nitrosamine-containing foodstuffs and hot beverages, together with various genetic factors, have been found associated with the occurrence of this disease in various parts of the world. Much work has been carried out to elucidate the role of various gene mutations and polymorphisms in esophageal mucosal cancer.

Relation between IRF-1 gene and acute myelocytic leukemia in Kashmiri population.

The IRF-1 protein, a mammalian transcriptional factor encoded by a gene located in 5q23-q31, has antioncogenic properties. Involved in regulation of differentiation and proliferation, IRF-1 acts as a tumor suppressor gene and is inactivated by deletion of its one or more exons (exon skipping) in many hematological malignancies, including acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). DNA samples, extracted from peripheral blood, taken from 50 Kashmiri AML subjects, were analysed using the polymerase chain reaction and compared with examples of age and gender matched healthy controls from the same population.

The ECRG1 290Arg/Gln polymorphism is related to risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Kashmir.

ECRG1 (esophageal cancer related gene 1) is a novel candidate member of the tumor suppressor gene family previously found to be down regulated in human esophageal cancer (ESCC). So far no evidence regarding the role of the ECRG1 gene in this cancer has been reported from the Kashmir valley, located on the border of the high risk 'esophageal cancer belt'. A case control study was therefore carried out with genomic DNA from 165 newly diagnosed ESCC patients (cases) and 200 control subjects.