The significance of single nucleotide polymorphism rs2070770 in CD20 gene in Chinese patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of polymorphisms in the CD20 gene in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We sequenced exons 3–8 in 160 patients with de novo DLBCL and detected the expression of CD20 via immunohistochemistry. We found two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): rs17155019 in the 5’ untranslated region and rs2070770 (ILE72/ILE72) in exon 4. There was no significant difference in genotype frequencies of SNPs between patients and controls (p = 0.855 and 0.251, respectively). In patients who received rituximab-containing chemotherapies, the T allele of rs2070770 was significantly associated with superior overall survival (OS) (p = 0.029) and progression-free survival (p = 0.045). Analogously, in patients who did not receive rituximab, the T allele of rs2070770 (p = 0.047) was also significantly associated with longer OS. In conclusion, SNPs of CD20 were not high risk factors of DLBCL, but the T allele of rs2070770 was a potential indicator of superior survival.

Keywords::

• CD20
• single nucleotide polymorphism
• diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
• rituximab

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30971296, 81170488, 81370657), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK2010584), Key Project of Health Department of Jiangsu Province (K201108), Jiangsu Province's Medical Elite Program (RC2011169), the Program for Development of Innovative Research Team in the First Affiliated Hospital of NJMU, the Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (JX10231801), National Public Health Grand Research Foundation (201202017) and the Project for State Key Clinical Department construction.

Potential conflict of interest

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