Oncogenic virus-associated neoplasia: a role for cyclin D1 genotypes influencing the age of onset of disease?

Cyclin D1 (CCND1) is a key regulatory protein at the G1/S checkpoint of the cell cycle. The purpose of our study was to assess the role of CCND1 genotypes influencing the age of onset of oncogenic virus-associated neoplasia. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study of 581 individuals, including 247 controls and 334 cases (108 nasopharyngeal and 226 cervical cancer cases). The polymorphism analysis was performed in blood samples by PCR-RFLP methodology. Age-adjusted logistic regression analysis indicates that individuals carrying two G-alleles have an increased genetic susceptibility for the development of oncogenic virus-associated cancers (aOR=2.02, 95% CI 1.30-3.14, P=0.002). Moreover, our results indicate that the waiting time for onset of oncogenic virus-associated neoplasia in patients homozygous (GG) for CCND1 genotypes (52 years) was 12 years earlier in comparison with patients carrying AG or AA genotypes (60 years) (log-rank test: P=0.0003). Our results may be important in contributing to a more extensive knowledge of the mechanisms involved in oncogenic virus-associated carcinogenesis, as CCND1 may be an important target for the development of new strategies for cancer treatment and prevention.