Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 genetic variants and risk of Ewing's sarcoma

Despite the knowledge of many genetic alterations present in Ewing's sarcoma (ES), the complexity of this disease precludes placing its biology into a simple conceptual framework. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) can decrease T-cell activation and attenuate antitumor responses. Polymorphisms in the CTLA-4 gene have been shown to be associated with different diseases. Here, we investigated the association of four CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms, -1661A/G (rs4553808), -318C/T (rs5742909), +49G/A (rs231775), and CT60A/G (rs3087243), with ES in the Chinese population. A total of 308 ES cases and 362 healthy controls were recruited and CTLA-4 polymorphisms were tested by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results showed that frequencies of the CTLA-4 gene +49AA genotype, +49A allele, and GTAG haplotype were significantly increased in ES patients compared to healthy controls (odds ratio [OR]=2.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43-4.09, p<0.001; OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.11-1.73, p=0.005, and OR=1.46, 95% CI 1.06-2.02, p=0.020, respectively). We further compared CTLA-4 polymorphisms in ES patients based on different clinical parameters and data revealed that ES patients with metastasis had higher numbers of the +49AA genotype than those without metastasis (p=0.004). These results indicated that the CTLA-4 polymorphism could be a risk factor for ES and suggested a potential role of CTLA-4 in the metastasis of this malignancy.