No association between Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a Chinese Han population

An abundance of candidate genes have been reported as susceptibility factors for the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Vitamin D receptor (VDR) plays an important role in cellular differentiation and the control of proliferation in a variety of cell types. To our knowledge, however, no study has reported the relationship between the VDR and NPC. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential correlation between single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the VDR gene (VDR) Fok I and Bsm I and NPC. A total of 171 patients with NPC and 176 age-and sex-matched controls were involved in this study. Genotypes were determined by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing. There were no significant differences in the genotype and allele frequencies of VDR Fok I and Bsm I polymorphisms between the group of patients with NPC and the control group in a Chinese Han population (for VDR Fok I: adjusted OR 1.03, 95% CI: 0.76-1.41; for VDR Bsm I: adjusted OR 0.80, 95% CI: 0.48-1.33). Further studies will be needed to explore the complicated gene-gene interaction and gene-environmental interactions in the susceptibility to NPC, especially in ethnically disparate populations in cohort study samples.