Interleukin-27 (IL-27) has been recognized as a pleiotropic cytokine with both pro- and anti-inflammatory properties. However, there are no data about the role of IL-27 polymorphism in the development of cervical cancer. A hospital-based case-control study was conducted in 380 patients with cervical cancer and 380 healthy controls to investigate the possible associations of IL-27 gene polymorphisms (-964A/G, 2905T/G, and 4730T/C), with susceptibility to cervical cancer and clinical outcome. Our results suggested that the IL-27 2905T/G was significantly associated with a decreased risk of cervical cancer (TG vs. TT, odds ratio (OR) = 0.77; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.60-0.86; GG vs. TT, OR = 0.95; 95 % CI = 0.72-0.96; TG+GG vs. TT, OR = 0.87; 95 % CI = 0.65-0.94). However, the genotype and allele frequencies of IL-27 (-964A/G and 4730T/C) polymorphisms in cervical cancer patients were not significantly different from controls. Further analysis showed IL-27 2905T/G genotypes were associated with advanced tumor stages of cervical cancer patients. More interestingly, the IL-27 2905T/G genotypes were statistically significantly associated with the survival in cervical cancer patients. Our results showed that the IL-27 2905T/G genotypes were associated with decreased susceptibility and development of cervical cancer in Chinese Han population.
Keywords: Cervical cancer; IL-27; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Susceptibility.