Significance of TYMS Polymorphism rs3819102 as a Prognostic Marker for Nonsmoking Lung Cancer Patients of the Han Ethnicity in China

With high incidence and mortality rates, lung cancer is now one of the most common cancers in the world. The 5-year survival rate of lung cancer patients is very low, and predicting the prognosis of lung cancer patients and using it to develop treatment strategies and interventions is important for prolonging the survival time of patients. Folate metabolism involves various aspects such as methylation of DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, etc. Disorders of folate metabolism are closely related to cardiovascular diseases, immunodeficiencies, tumors, etc., and TYMS is a key enzyme in the folate metabolic pathway. We investigated and analyzed the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphism rs3819102 synergistic clinical features in the TYMS and prognosis in lung cancer. A total of 888 Han Chinese patients with primary lung cancer were recruited between January and November 2009 (10 months), including Changhai Hospital Affiliated to the Naval Military Medical university (Second Military Medical University) and Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences of Fudan University. Of these, 49 were excluded due to incomplete data collected for various reasons. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, and written informed consent was obtained from all participating subjects. This study does not include minors. Genomic DNA was extracted from patient blood samples using the Qiagen Blood Kit (Qiagen, Chatsworth, California) and genotyped using SNPscan technology. The association between TYMS polymorphism rs3819102 and prognostic was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier (KM) analysis, log-rank test, and Cox proportional-hazards model. In the Han nationality nonsmoking patients in China, compared with AA + AG genotype, the GG genotype (GG vs. AA + AG: adjusted hazard ratio = 1.69, 95% confidence interval: 1.00-2.83, p = 0.048401) of rs3819102 conferred a worse prognosis. TYMS rs3819102 A > G mutation shortened lung cancer patients' survival and worse prognosis. TYMS rs3819102 may be a prognostic factor for deterioration in lung cancer patients.