Association between cyclooxygenase-2 gene polymorphisms and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma risk

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an inducible enzyme that catalyzes prostaglandins through inflammatory response, which may be involved in autoimmune diseases and cancer pathogenesis. Two potentially functional genetic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (COX-2 -1195G>A and 8473T>C) were supposed to contribute to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) susceptibility. The aim of this study was to determine the association of these polymorphisms with HNSCC susceptibility in a Chinese Han population. In this study, 2 SNPs were genotyped by TaqMan methods in a patient-control study including 260 patients with HNSCC and 1047 cancer-free controls in a Chinese Han population. We found significant difference in the frequency of alcohol consumption between the patients with HNSCC and controls (P < 0.001), but the genotype frequencies of the 2 polymorphisms were not significantly different between the patients and controls. Further stratified analysis indicated that none of the genotypes were associated with increased risk for HNSCC. This research indicated that the COX-2 -1195G>A and 8473T>C polymorphisms may not be involved in the development of HNSCC in the Chinese Han population. However, further perspective studies are warranted to test these findings and further investigate the potential interactions involving the COX-2 polymorphism and HNSCC.