PARP-1 rs3219073 polymorphism may contribute to susceptibility to lung cancer

To investigate the relationship between the PARP-1 rs3219073 C>G polymorphism and susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese people.

In accordance with the case-control study principle, 645 of the patients had histologically recognized primary lung cancer, among them 240 had squamous carcinoma, 217 had adenocarcinoma, and 188 had small-cell lung cancer. The control group consisted of 643 healthy subjects who had received a physical examination. Extracts of peripheral blood were taken from all subjects, and genomic DNA was extracted by the phenol-chloroform method.

After adjusting for age and smoking status, the results show significant association between genetic variations in the rs3219073 C/C genotype and an increased risk of lung cancer (p=0.045, odds ratio [OR]=0.625). After combining C/G, G/G is still statistically significant (p=0.042, OR=0.637). Hierarchical analysis found that the number of subjects with a G/G genotype in the adenocarcinoma group is lower than in the control group (p=0.015, OR=0.543). After combining C/G, G/G is still statistically significant (p=0.027, OR=0.595). After correcting for age and smoking status, the group with C/G genotype and the group with G/G genotype both appear to have a reduced risk for lung cancer compared with the control group (p=0.045, OR=0.566; p=0.013, OR=0.489). The combination of C/G and G/G displays a more statistically significant difference (p=0.018, OR=0.528).

The study found that PARP-1 rs3219073 C>G polymorphism is indeed associated with lung cancer susceptibility. The carriers of G alleles may have reduced risk of lung cancer, especially adenocarcinoma.