Association of BCL2-938C>A genetic polymorphism with glioma risk in Chinese Han population.

Glioma is the most common type of primary brain malignancy in adults. The anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of glioma. This study aimed to evaluate the potential association between BCL2-938C>A genetic polymorphism and glioma susceptibility. This case-control study was conducted in Chinese Han populations consisting of 248 glioma cases and 252 cancer-free controls. The BCL2-938C>A genetic polymorphism was detected by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and verified using DNA sequencing methods. Our data suggested that the genotype/allele of BCL2-938C>A polymorphism were statistically associated with the increased risk of glioma where the risk of glioma for genotype AA or allele A is significantly higher than wild genotype CC (odds ratio (OR) = 2.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21-4.10, p = 0.009) or allele C (OR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.06-1.82, p = 0.016), respectively. In addition, the BCL2-938AA genotype was significantly more common in patients with glioblastoma and in patients with grade IV glioma. Our findings indicate that the BCL2-938C>A polymorphism is associated with the susceptibility to glioma in Chinese Han populations and might be used as molecular markers for evaluating glioma risk.