Tumour necrosis factor-alpha cytokine promoter gene polymorphism in Hodgkin's disease and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Regulation of cytokine levels has been shown to be under genetic control through the coding and promoter sequences of genetic polymorphisms. We elucidated the prevalence of a previously described G to A transition polymorphism at position -308 of the tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) promoter region in a population of patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) (n = 36) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) (n = 49) and healthy volunteers (n = 51). The DNA fragment containing this polymorphism was amplified by PCR and sequenced by solid-phase minisequencing. The frequency of the TNF-alpha promoter polymorphism was not significantly different between CLL patients and HD patients compared to controls.