Background: studies investigating the association between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and gastric cancer risk report conflicting results. Our recent meta-analysis suggests that the p53 codon 72 polymorphism may be associated with gastric cancer among Asians.
Aim: the objective of this study was to investigate the association between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and gastric cancer risk in Chinese Han patients.
Methods: we extracted the peripheral blood samples from 150 patients with gastric cancer and 150 control subjects. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was performed to detect p53 codon 72 polymorphism in these patients.
Results: patients with gastric cancer had a significantly lower frequency of Arg/Arg (odds ratio [OR] = 0.48, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.28, 0.80; p = 0.005) than control subjects. Patients with cardia gastric cancer had a significantly higher frequency of Pro/Pro (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.12, 4.55; p = 0.02) than those with noncardia gastric cancer. Patients with advanced gastric cancer had a significantly higher frequency of Arg/Arg (OR = 2.66, 95% CI = 1.06, 6.65; p = 0.03) than those with early gastric cancer. When stratified by the Lauren's classification, histological differentiation of gastric cancer, no statistically significant result was observed.
Conclusion: this study suggests that the p53 codon 72 polymorphism may be associated with gastric cancer in Chinese Han patients, and that difference in genotype distribution may be associated with the location and stage of gastric cancer.