Genetic polymorphisms inTERTare associated with increased risk of esophageal cancer

// Yifei Wu 1, * , Mengdan Yan 1, 2, * , Jing Li 1, 2 , Jingjie Li 1, 2 , Zhengshuai Chen 1, 2 , Peng Chen 1, 2, 3 , Bin Li 1, 2 , Fulin Chen 1 , Tianbo Jin 1, 2 , Chao Chen 1 1 Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China (Northwest University), Ministry of Education, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710069, China 2 Xi’an Tiangen Precision Medical Institute, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710075, China 3 Institution of Basic Medical Science, Xi'an Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710021, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Tianbo Jin, email: jtianbo@163.com.com Chao Chen, email: chaochenxida@163.com Keywords: TERT, SNP, esophageal cancer, susceptibility, northwest Chinese population Received: August 26, 2016 Accepted: December 13, 2016 Published: January 2, 2017 ABSTRACT Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TERT may be associated with susceptibility to esophageal cancer. In this study, we analyzed the association between TERT SNPs and risk of esophageal cancer in 386 esophageal cancer patients and 495 healthy subjects from the Xi’an area of China. Of the four SNPs examined, rs10069690 and rs2242652 were correlated with esophageal cancer risk. Additionally, after adjusting for age and gender, the “T rs10069690 A rs2242652 ”, “T rs10069690 G rs2242652 ” haplotypes were associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer, while the and “C rs10069690 G rs2242652 ” haplotype was associated with a decreased risk of esophageal cancer. These findings suggest that TERT polymorphisms may contribute to the development of esophageal cancer.