The functional polymorphism in monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 gene increases susceptibility to gastric cancer.

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1, CCL2) has been suggested to be associated with gastric cancer. We investigated whether the functional single nucleotide polymorphism A-2518G in CCL2 gene influenced susceptibility to gastric cancer. The CCL2 genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 1,216 individuals (608 gastric cancer patients and 608 age- and sex-matched controls). The gastric cancer patients showed a significant higher frequency of the variant G allele compared to the controls (P = 0.01). Compared with the wild-type AA carriers, the variant genotypes (GA + GG) of A-2518G polymorphism were associated with a higher risk of gastric cancer (adjusted odds ratio = 1.55, 95% confidence interval = 1.03-2.35). Moreover, the elevated risk of gastric cancer associated with the variant genotypes was especially noteworthy in rural subjects (adjusted odds ratio = 1.92, 95% confidence interval = 1.01-3.65). In addition, stratification of gastric cancer cases according to clinicopathological characters showed that the polymorphism was associated significantly with the depth of tumor infiltration. Our data suggest that the genetic polymorphism CCL2 A-2518G may not only be associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer, but also with advanced stage of gastric cancer in the Chinese population.