Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and esophageal cancer risk in a Chinese population: a negative study

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms have been reported to influence susceptibility to some malignant cancers. However, there were few published findings on the association between VDR polymorphisms and esophageal cancer susceptibility. Our investigation was aimed to obtain a precise estimation of the association between VDR polymorphisms and esophageal cancer susceptibility. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study to evaluate the genetic effects of functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms VDR rs2107301 T>C, rs2228570 C>T, rs1989969 C>T and rs11568820 G>A on the development of esophageal cancer. A total of 629 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases and 686 controls were enrolled for this study. The genotypes were determined using ligation detection reaction method. There were no significant associations between the four VDR variants and ESCC risk. Stratified analyses indicated a significantly increased risk of ESCC associated with VDR rs2107301 T>C polymorphism among patients who were drinking. These findings demonstrated that the risk of ESCC associated with VDR rs2107301 T>C polymorphism may be modified by lifestyle factors such as drinking. However, the results should be validated in larger well-designed studies in future.