Relationship between LAPTM4B gene polymorphism and susceptibility of primary liver cancer

Abstract

Background: Lysosome associated protein transmembrane 4 beta (LAPTM4B) was identified first as a novel gene overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma. LAPTM4B*1 and LAPTM4B*2 are two alleles of the gene; they are differentiated at 5'UTR in the first exon. Allele *1 contains only one copy of a 19-bp sequence in the 5'UTR. However, allele *2 contains another identical 19-bp sequence following the first one tightly. In this case-control study, we aimed to identify the relationship between LAPTM4B gene polymorphism and the susceptibility of primary liver cancer. Materials and methods: The case-control study was conducted in China, including 303 primary liver cancer cases and 515 controls. LAPTM4B gene polymorphism was determined by PCR. Statistical analysis includes odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) calculations using unconditional logistic regression. Results: We found a significant difference in the frequency of LAPTM4B*2 between cases and controls (P < 0.05). Our study showed that LAPTM4B*1/2 and *2/2 were associated with a significantly increased risk of primary liver cancer compared with LAPTM4B*1/1 (OR = 1.898, 95% CI = 1.387-2.598 and OR = 2.483, 95% CI = 1.480-4.168, respectively). The genotypes of LAPTM4B in this study have negative correlation with the clinicopathologicals observed. Conclusion: The evidences suggest that gene polymorphism of LAPTM4B may influence the individuals' susceptibility to primary liver cancer and allele *2 being considered as a potential risk factor. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved.