Background: p53 is one of the most widely investigated molecular markers in bladder cancer and its polymorphisms have been related to individual cancer risks. The objective of this study was to explore the association of p53 codon 72 polymorphism with susceptibility and clinicopathologic characteristics of bladder cancer in a Chinese population.
Methods: We investigated the impact of p53 codon 72 polymorphism in a hospital-based case-control study of bladder cancer. We tested peripheral blood samples from 120 patients with bladder cancer and 120 healthy individuals of similar age and from the same geographical region. The polymorphisms were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay.
Results: There was an association between smoking status and bladder cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 2.25; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.31, 3.87; p = 0.003). Patients with bladder cancer had a significantly lower frequency of Arg/Arg (OR = 0.53; 95% CI = 0.31, 0.89; p = 0.02) and Arg allele (OR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.45, 0.95; p = 0.03) than controls. Patients with invasive bladder cancer had a significantly lower frequency of Arg/Arg (OR = 0.29; 95% CI = 0.10, 0.88; p = 0.03) than those with superficial bladder cancer. When stratifying by the grade and histological type of bladder cancer, we found no statistical association.
Conclusions: These data suggest that the p53 codon 72 Arg/Arg genotype and Arg allele are associated with a lower risk of bladder cancer in Chinese population.