Polymorphisms in prostate stem cell antigen gene rs2294008 increase gastric cancer risk in Chinese

A recent genome-wide study identified a strong association between polymorphisms in the prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) gene and the risk of diffuse-type of gastric cancer in Japanese and Korean population. In this case-control study, we aimed to investigate the possible association between PSCA rs2294008 C/T with clinicopathological features and the prognosis of gastric cancer in a Southern Chinese population. Genotypes of 460 gastric cancer patients and 549 controls were determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and DNA sequencing. We found that individuals with at least one copy of the rs2294008T allele (CT or TT genotype) had an increased risk for gastric cancer compared with CC genotype (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.10-1.82, P = 0.006). Further stratification analyses indicated that the effect of PSCA rs2294008T carriers was noteworthy in intestinal type (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.18-2.04, P = 0.002), poorly differentiated (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.19-2.13, P = 0.002), noncardia (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.17-2.04, P = 0.002) subtypes of gastric cancer. Cox proportional hazards analyses demonstrated that TT genotype (HR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.22-3.69, P = 0.008) as well as TNM staging were prognostic factors of gastric cancer patients. In conclusion, The T allele of PSCA rs2294008 is associated with increased risk of gastric cancer, especially intestinal type, poorly differentiated, early onset, and noncardia gastric cancer in Chinese population. TNM staging and TT genotype might be involved in the prognosis of gastric cancer patients.