The 1040C/T polymorphism influencing thermal stability and activity of thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor is associated with risk for oral cancer.

No studies thus far have investigated the contribution of thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) to oral oncogenesis. We studied the activity-related 1040C/T polymorphism in 150 patients with oral cancer and 138 healthy controls matched by age, gender, and ethnicity. The increased-activity T allele frequency was significantly reduced in patients compared with controls (28.7% vs. 37.0%, P < 0.05). T/T homozygotes had about half the probability of developing oral cancer (O.R. 0.39, 95%C.I. 0.13-1.14), while no significant difference was observed in C/T heterozygotes. The observed prophylactic effect of increased TAFI activity might result from reduction of plasmin and inhibition of extracellular matrix dissolution.