MicroRNAs related polymorphisms and genetic susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the sixth leading cause of cancer-associated death worldwide and the incidence and mortality in China are the highest. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to microRNAs could lead to alteration in microRNA expression and contribute to the susceptibility of cancer. To evaluate the association between microRNA-related SNPs and EC, a case–control study including 381 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and 426 gender, age-matched controls was carried out to investigate the genetic susceptibility of five microRNA-related SNPs (rs2910164 in microRNA-146a, rs11614913 in microRNA-196a-2, rs7813 in GEMIN4, rs1595066 and rs16845990 in ErbB4) as well as the interactions of gene–gene and gene–environment in the development of ESCC. Variant homozygote genotype of rs11614913 in microRNA-196a-2 and rs1595066 in ErbB4 were significantly associated with reduced ESCC risk (ORadjusted: 0.62, 95 % CI: 0.39–0.99 and ORadjusted: 0.38, 95 % CI: 0.24–0.61). The analysis of haplotypes in ErbB4 gene showed significant increased ESCC risk in Grs1595066Crs16845990 and Grs1595066Trs16845990 haplotypes (ORadjusted: 1.46, 95 % CI: 1.08–1.99 and ORadjusted: 1.33, 95 % CI: 1.10–1.62), and inversely reduced ESCC risk in Ars1595066Crs16845990 and Ars1595066Trs16845990 haplotypes with OR (95 % CI) of 0.75 (0.60–0.94) and 0.65 (0.49–0.86), respectively. These findings suggest that the polymorphisms in the microRNA-related genes may affect susceptibility of ESCC in Chinese Han population and the gene–gene interactions play vital roles in the progression on esophageal cancer. Future studies with larger sample and different ethnic populations are required to support and validate our findings.