Forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) tagging polymorphisms and esophageal cancer risk in a Chinese population: a fine-mapping study

Abstract

Esophageal cancer was the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in China in 2009. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) accounts for more than 90% of esophageal cancers. Besides environmental risk factors, genetic factors such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play an important role in ESCC carcinogenesis. We performed a hospital-based case–control study to evaluate the Forkhead-box protein A1 (FOXA1) rs12894364 C > T, rs2145146 C > A and rs7144658 T > C tag SNPs in the risk of developing ESCC. We recruited 629 ESCC cases and 686 controls. Genotypes were determined using ligation detection reaction. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the three FOXA1 SNPs were not associated with ESCC risk. However, there was significantly decreased ESCC risk associated with the FOXA1 rs12894364 C > T and rs2145146 C > A polymorphisms among older patients. There was significantly increased ESCC risk associated with the FOXA1 rs7144658 T > C polymorphism among male patients. This study demonstrates an association between FOXA1 polymorphisms and ESCC susceptibility. Additional larger studies are required to confirm our findings.

Keywords:

• Esophageal cancer
• FOXA1
• molecular epidemiology
• polymorphisms

Acknowledgments

We appreciate all patients who participated in this study. We wish to thank Dr. Yiqun Chen (Biowing Applied Biotechnology Company, Shanghai, China) for technical support.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors has any potential financial conflict of interest related to this manuscript.

Funding information

This study was supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81370001, 81371927, 81101889, 81000028), Jiangsu Province Natural Science Foundation (BK2010333, BK2011481), Social Development Foundation of Zhenjiang (SH2010017), Changzhou Young Talents and Science-Technology Foundation of Health Bureau (QN201102), Affiliated People’s Hospital of Jiangsu University Fund (Y200913) and Jiangsu University Clinical Medicine Science and Technology Development Fund (JLY20120004).