Plasma Vitamin D Levels And Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms Are Associated with Survival of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Objective:Vitamin D and its receptor(VDR) involve in multiple cellular processes and play an important role in the initiation and progression of malignancy.Thus we hypothesized that plasma vitamin D levels and single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) in VDR may be of prognostic significance in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods:We examined plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels in 87 patients diagnosed with NSCLC using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and genotyped seven potentially functional SNPs in VDR in 568 NSCLC patients on Illumina Golden Gate platform.Results:Patients with higher plasma 25(OH)D levels had worse survival than patients with lower ones(P for trend = 0.048).The SNPs of rs1544410 and rs739837 were independently associated with NSCLC survival(adjusted HR = 1.61,95% CIs = 1.06-2.45 for rs739837 AA vs AC/CC and adjusted HR = 1.51,95% CIs = 1.06-2.16 for rs1544410 AG/AA vs GG).A joint effect was observed between rs1544410 and rs739837 and the risk of death elevated as the number of unfavourable genotypes patients carried increased(P for trend = 0.003).There were no significant associations between VDR polymorphisms and plasma 25(OH)D levels.Conclusion:Our findings indicate that plasma 25(OH)D levels and genetic variants of VDR may serve as prognostic markers for NSCLC in this Chinese population.