Background: Increased levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) have been observed in patients with oral cancer, possibly as a result of suppression of the immune response. Based on this, the -1082A/G polymorphism, which influences IL-10 gene expression level, was investigated in regard to its possible association with risk for oral cancer.
Patients and methods: The polymorphism was examined in DNA samples of 144 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 141 healthy controls of equivalent gender, age and ethnicity.
Results: The detected allele frequencies for the high expression G allele were significantly higher in patients compared to controls (34.7% versus 21.3%, respectively, p=0.0004), as well as in patients that were smokers but not those that were heavy alcohol consumers. This highly significant difference in G allele frequency was mainly due to the increase of AG heterozygotes in patients compared to controls (OR 3.05, 95% CI 1.84-5.05).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that the high expression G allele of the -1082A/G polymorphism of the inflammation and angiogenesis-related IL-10 is strongly associated with increased risk for oral cancer.