Brief Reports
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World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2005; 11(2): 289-292
Published online Jan 14, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i2.289
Homozygosity for Pro of p53 Arg72Pro as a potential risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese population
Zhong-Zheng Zhu, Wen-Ming Cong, Shu-Fang Liu, Hui Dong, Guan-Shan Zhu, Meng-Chao Wu
Zhong-Zheng Zhu, Wen-Ming Cong, Hui Dong, Meng-Chao Wu, Department of Pathology, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China
Shu-Fang Liu, HealthDigit Company Limited, Shanghai 200233, China
Guan-Shan Zhu, Department of Infectious Diseases, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China, and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30370645, and by the Hundred Leading Scientists Program of the Public Health Sector of Shanghai, No. 98BR007
Correspondence to: Professor Wen-Ming Cong, Department of Pathology, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China. wmcong@smmu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-21-25070860
Received: March 15, 2004
Revised: March 18, 2004
Accepted: April 5, 2004
Published online: January 14, 2005
Abstract

AIM: Codon 72 exon 4 polymorphism (Arg72Pro) of the p53 gene has been implicated in cancer risk. Our objective was to investigate the possible association between p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among Chinese population.

METHODS: The p53 Arg72Pro genotypes were determined by PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis in 507 HCC cases and 541 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) for HCC and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from unconditional logistic regression models were used to evaluate relative risks. Potential risk factors were included in the logistic regression models as covariates in the multivariate analyses on genotype and HCC.

RESULTS: The frequencies for Pro and Arg alleles were 44.5%, 55.5% in HCC cases, and 40.3% and 59.7% in controls, respectively. The Pro allele was significantly associated with the presence of HCC (P = 0.05) and had a higher risk for HCC (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.00-1.41) as compared with the Arg allele. After adjusted for potential risk factors, Arg/Pro heterozygotes had an 1.21-fold increased risk (95% CI 0.82-1.78, P = 0.34) of HCC compared with Arg homozygotes, whereas the risk for Pro homozygotes was 1.79 (95% CI 1.06-3.01, P = 0.03) times higher than that for Arg homozygotes. Pro-allele carriers had a higher relative risk of HCC than the Arg-only carriers (adjusted OR = 1.33, 95% CI 0.92-1.92, P = 0.13), although the difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: Homozygosity for Pro of p53 Arg72Pro is potentially one of the genetic risk factors for HCC in Chinese population. The p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may be used as a stratification marker in screening individuals at a high risk of HCC.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; p53 gene; Arg72Pro