Introduction: The association between estrogen receptor (ER) gene polymorphism and lung cancer risk is rarely studied. This study aimed to explore the ER gene polymorphisms associated with the lung adenocarcinoma risk in never-smoking women.
Methods: This study evaluated 532 never-smoking female patients with lung adenocarcinoma and 532 healthy controls. The ESR1 and ESR2 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data were retrieved from a genome-wide association study. Using a multivariate-adjusted logistic regression assay, the associations of ESR1 and ESR2 SNPs with the lung adenocarcinoma risk were estimated. Expression quantitative trait loci analysis was performed to investigate the possible functional roles of ER gene SNPs.
Results: For ESR1, seven tagged SNPs were identified. Among them, rs7753153 and rs985192 were associated with lung adenocarcinoma risk (rs7753153: odds ratios [OR], 1.509; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.168-1.950; rs985192: OR, 1.309; 95% CI, 1.001-1.712). For ESR2, only rs3020450 was associated with lung adenocarcinoma risk (OR, 2.110; 95% CI, 1.007-4.422). Subjects without hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use carrying at-risk genotypes had a significantly higher lung adenocarcinoma risk than subjects with HRT carrying no at-risk genotypes (rs7753153 GG: OR, 2.133; 95% CI, 1.415-3.216; rs985192 AA/AC, OR: 1.752, 95% CI: 1.109-2.768; rs3020450 AG/GG, OR: 7.162, 95% CI: 1.608-31.90). Risk genotypes of rs7753153 (p = 0.0248) and rs9479122 (p = 0.0251) were associated with decreased ESR1 expression.
Conclusions: ER gene SNPs are associated with lung adenocarcinoma risk in never-smoking women. The joint effects of ER gene SNPs and HRT use on lung adenocarcinoma risk highlight the importance of the gene-environment interaction in lung carcinogenesis.