The interleukin-18 -607A/C polymorphism is not associated with risk for oral cancer
Vairaktaris, E.; Serefoglou, Z.C.; Yapijakis, C.; Agapi, C.; Vassiliou, S.; Nkenke, E.; Antonis, V.; Sofia, S.; Neukam, F.W.; Patsouris, E.
Anticancer Research 27(6b): 4011-4014
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0250-7005 PMID: 18225563 Document Number: 606867
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of angiogenesis-inhibitor interleukin-18 (IL-18) with risk for oral cancer, with regard to the recently found contribution of cytokines to carcinogenesis. The -607A/C polymorphism in the promoter region of the IL-18 gene, which affects transcription, was studied in 149 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 89 matched healthy controls. The detected carrier and allele frequencies of the low transcription A allele were not significantly different in patients in comparison with controls (63.1% versus 60.7%, p = 0.78 and 40.9% versus 42.7%, p = 0.77, respectively). The same non-significant pattern was observed in subgroups of patients regarding cancer stage, family history of cancer or thrombosis, as well as smoking or heavy drinking habits. Despite the known inhibitory effect of IL-18 in angiogenesis, IL-18 gene expression is not a contributing factor in oral oncogenesis.