Genetic variants of the vitamin D receptor gene alter risk of cutaneous melanoma

Sunlight causes DNA damage but also induces production of vitamin D whose metabolite 1,25-(OH)2D3 has antiproliferative and pro-differentiative effects in both melanocytes and cutaneous melanoma (CM) cells mediated through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). We hypothesized that genetic polymorphisms of VDR are associated with risk of CM. In a hospital-based case-control study of 602 non-Hispanic white CM patients and 603 cancer-free control subjects frequency matched by age and sex, we genotyped two VDR polymorphisms (TaqI and FokI) and assessed their association with CM risk. We found that a significantly decreased risk was associated with VDR-TaqI Tt (adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.70; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.54-0.90) and Tt+tt (OR=0.70; 95% CI, 0.55-0.89) genotypes, compared with the VDR-TaqI TT genotype, whereas an increased risk was associated with VDR-FokI Ff genotype (OR=1.32; 95% CI, 1.03-1.68), and a borderline significantly increased risk was associated with Ff+ff (OR=1.26; 95% CI, 1.00-1.59) genotypes, compared with the VDR-FokI FF genotype. In conclusion, genetic variants (i.e., TaqI t protective allele and FokI f risk allele) in VDR may alter risk of CM.