Association of IL-8 gene polymorphisms with non small cell lung cancer in Tunisia: A case control study

Interleukin 8 (IL-8), is a proinflammatory chemokine, has been reported to have angiogenic activity and to be responsible for tumor-associated angiogenesis in several cancers. In this study, we aimed to study the (IL-8) gene polymorphism in relation with risk development of non small cell lung cancer in Tunisian patient. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (-251T/A [rs4073], +781C/T [rs2227306]) of the IL-8 gene were screened in 170 patients with NSCLC and 225 healthy controls by PCR-RFLP. Significant association for the IL-8 -251T/T genotypes (P=0.004) and an increased significant frequency of IL-8 -251T allele were noted in the patient's group (P=0.0007). Clinical analysis indicated a borderline positive association of IL-8 -251T allele among adenocarcinoma patients (P=0.003). Our study indicated that IL-8 -251T allele was highly associated with large tumor size and high grade stage of NSCLC. Moreover, a significantly increased risk of NSCLC was associated with IL-8 +781C allele in patients with large tumor size (T3 and T4) (P=0.004). IL-8 mRNA expression was found highly expressed in NSCLC patients compared to healthy controls. The same higher level was even found in patients carrying IL-8 -251T/T genotype. Our results indicated that the IL-8 promoter polymorphism is associated with NSCLC risk.