Association of C-reactive protein gene polymorphisms and colorectal cancer

An elevated plasma level of C-reactive protein (CRP) is a risk for, and prognostic factor of, colorectal cancer (CRC). In other reports of CRP concerning cardiovascular disease, CRP level correlated with its gene polymorphisms. We hypothesized that CRP polymorphisms associate risk and prognosis of CRC.

This study enrolled 421 patients with CRC and 218 healthy control subjects. After preliminary studies, we selected four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CRP gene: +2147A > G (rs1205), +942G > C (rs1800947), -717A > G (rs2794521), and -757T > C (rs3093059). At first, analyzing distributions of four SNPs between CRC case and non-CRC control groups was performed. Subsequently, the impacts of these SNPs with other prognostic factors of disease-free interval (DFI) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were analyzed using uni- and multivariate Cox regression analyses.

The case and control groups differed in the frequency of -757T > C (P = 0.002). The CRC case group had a higher percentage of the TT genotype (odds, 1.75). Regarding prognoses, multivariate analyses revealed that four factors, including stage (I, II, III), gross tumor type (polypoid, ulcerative, infiltrative), location (right, left, rectum), and -757T > C SNP (odds, 1.29; P = 0.048), correlated with DFI; two factors, including stage and +2147A > G SNP (odds, 0.71; P = 0.03), correlated with CSS.

The -757T > C SNP is a risk for and prognostic factor of DFI; the +2147A > G SNP is a prognostic factor of CSS. CRP polymorphisms associate the risk and survival of CRC.