Genetic variation in microRNA genes and prostate cancer risk in North Indian population

Recent evidence indicates the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs), in cell growth control, differentiation, and apoptosis, thus playing a role in tumorigenesis. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located at miRNA-binding sites (miRNA-binding SNPs) are likely to affect the expression of the miRNA target and may contribute to the susceptibility of humans to common diseases. We genotyped SNPs hsa-mir196a2 (rs11614913), hsa-mir146a (rs2910164), and hsa-mir499 (rs3746444) in a case-control study including 159 prostate cancer patients and 230 matched controls. Patients with heterozygous genotype in hsa-mir196a2 and hsa-mir499, showed significant risk for developing prostate cancer (P = 0.01; OR = 1.70 and P ≤ 0.001; OR = 2.27, respectively). Similarly, the variant allele carrier was also associated with prostate cancer, (P = 0.01; OR = 1.66 and P ≤ 0.001; OR = 1.97, respectively) whereas, hsa-mir146a revealed no association in prostate cancer. None of the miRNA polymorphisms were associated with Gleason grade and bone metastasis. This is the first study on Indian population substantially presenting that individual as well as combined genotypes of miRNA-related variants may be used to predict the risk of prostate cancer and may be useful for identifying patients at high risk.