FGFR4 Gene Polymorphism Reduces the Risk of Distant Metastasis in Lung Adenocarcinoma in Taiwan

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) is involved in multiple physiological and pathological processes. Several genetic variants of FGFR4 have been shown to be associated with tumor progression in many cancers. However, its association, such as genetic variants and expression levels, with lung cancer is controversial. The present study examined the relationship between four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs2011077 T/C, rs351855 G/A, rs7708357 G/A, and rs1966265 A/G) of FGFR4 and the risk of lung adenocarcinoma with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status in a Taiwanese cohort. The results demonstrated that FGFR4 rs2011077 (odds ratio (OR) = 0.348, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.136-0.891, p = 0.024), and rs351855 (OR = 0.296, 95% CI = 0.116-0.751, p = 0.008) showed an inverse association with distant metastasis in wild-type EGFR lung adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, a database analysis using The Cancer Genome Atlas revealed that the higher FGFR4 expression level was correlated with poor survival rates in wild-type EGFR lung adenocarcinoma. In conclusion, the data suggest that FGFR4 SNPs may help in identifying patient subgroups at low-risk for tumor metastasis, among carriers of lung adenocarcinoma bearing wild-type EGFR.