Cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV). Most infected women clear the virus without developing cervical lesions and it is likely that immunological host factors affect susceptibility to cervical cancer. The impact of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus on the risk of cervical cancer is established and several other genes involved in immunological pathways have been suggested as biologically plausible candidates. The aim of this study was to examine the potential role of polymorphisms in 4 candidate genes by analysis of 1,306 familial cervical cancer cases and 288 controls. The following genes and polymorphisms were studied: Chemokine receptor 2 (CCR-2) V64I; Interleukin 4 receptor alpha (IL-4R) I75V, S503P and Q576R; Interleukin 10 (IL-10) -592; and Fas ligand (FasL) -844. The CCR-2 64I variant was associated with decreased risk of cervical cancer; homozygote carriers of the 64I variant had an odds ratio of 0.31 (0.12-0.77). This association was detected in both carriers and noncarriers of the HLA DQB1*0602 cervical cancer risk allele. The IL-4R 75V variant was associated with increased risk of cervical tumors, cases homozygote for 75V had an odds ratio of 1.91 (1.27-2.86) with a tendency that the association was stronger in noncarriers of the DQB1*0602 allele. We did not find any association for IL-10 -592, or FasL -844, previously reported to be associated with cervical cancer in the Dutch and Chinese populations, respectively.
(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.