p21 rs3176352 G>C and p73 rs1801173 C>T polymorphisms are associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer in a Chinese population.

Objective: Esophageal cancer was the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in China in 2009. Genetic factors might play an important role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) carcinogenesis.

Designs And Methods: To evaluate the effect p21, p53, TP53BP1 and p73 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the risk of ESCC, we conducted a hospital based case-control study. A total of 629 ESCC cases and 686 controls were recruited. Their genotypes were determined using ligation detection reaction (LDR) method.

Results: When the p21 rs3176352 GG homozygote genotype was used as the reference group, the CC genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of ESCC. When the p73 rs1801173 CC homozygote genotype was used as the reference group, the CT genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of ESCC. After Bonferroni correction, for p21 rs3176352 G>C, the pcorrect was still significant. For the other six SNPs, in all comparison models, no association between the polymorphisms and ESCC risk was observed.

Conclusions: p21 rs3176352 G>C and p73 rs1801173 C>T SNPs are associated with increased risk of ESCC. To confirm the current findings, additional, larger studies and tissue-specific biological characterization are required.