The role of functional polymorphisms of cyclooxygenase 2 in renal cell carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for about 3% of all cancer-related mortalities worldwide and the risk factors for the development of RCC have not yet been fully elucidated. Mounting evidence shows that overexpression of cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX2) is commonly found in malignant tumors, including RCC. However, the contribution of genotypic variations of COX2 to RCC has not been studied. We hypothesized that variants of the COX2 gene are associated with risk of susceptibility to RCC in Taiwan. In this hospital-based case-control study, 92 patients with RCC and 580 age- and gender-matched cancer-free controls were recruited and the associations of COX2 A-1195G, G-765C, T+8473C, intron 1, intron 5, and intron 6 polymorphisms with RCC risk were examined in this Taiwanese population. The results showed that compared to the wild-type GG genotype, the CG genotype for COX2 G-765C was significantly associated with a lower risk of RCC (odds ratio=0.34, 95% confidence interval=0.15-0.80, p=0.0082). For other polymorphic sites, no obvious associations were found. There was also an obvious association of COX2 G765C genotype with reduced RCC risk among those without family cancer history (p=0.0331). These evidence indicated that COX2 G-765C genotype involved in the etiology of RCC and may serve as a novel genetic marker for susceptibility of RCC. Copyright