Associations between hsa-miR-603 polymorphism, lifestyle-related factors and colorectal cancer risk.

Background: Accumulated studies have suggested that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNAs are associated with risk of colorectal cancer (CRC).

Objective: We tested our hypothesis that rs11014002 in hsa-miR-603 may be associated with CRC risk with a crosstalk of life-related factors.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study which included 102 CRC patients and 204 matched cancer-free controls in Xiaoshan County.

Results: We observed that subjects with rs11014002 CT/TT genotype had an increased susceptibility for CRC (CT vs. CC: odds ratio (OR)=2.352, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.142-4.840, P=0.020; CT+TT vs. CC: OR=2.031, 95% CI: 1.063-3.883, P=0.032). After stratification by lifestyle-related factors, similar results were found among nonsmokers (CT vs. CC: OR=2.753, 95% CI: 1.085-6.983, P=0.033; CT+TT vs. CC: OR=2.971, 95% CI: 1.188-7.435, P=0.020) and non-alcohol drinkers (CT+TT vs. CC: OR=3.279, 95% CI: 1.071-10.033, P=0.037).

Conclusions: Our data suggest that hsa-miR-603 may be involved in colorectal tumorigenesis, and the genetic polymorphism in hsa-miR-603 is associated with CRC susceptibility.