Association between polymorphisms in long non-coding RNA PRNCR1 in 8q24 and risk of gastric cancer

A long ncRNA (lncRNA) prostate cancer non-coding RNA 1 (PRNCR1) in the 8q24 has been reported to be upregulated in prostate cancer with a function of activating androgen receptor (AR). AR plays a key role in the gender disparity, cell migration, and invasion of gastric cancer (GC). We hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the lncRNA PRNCR1 may be related to the risk of GC. We conducted a case-control study to investigate the association between SNPs in the lncRNA PRNCR1 and the risk of GC. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay was used to determine the genotypes of 613 subjects including 219 cases with GC and 394 controls. We found that patients with the rs13252298AG genotype displayed a 1.50-fold increased risk of GC (AG vs. AA, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-2.12, p = 0.02). Interestingly, the rs7007694CT and CC and the rs1456315GG genotypes displayed a decreased risk of GC (rs7007694CT vs. TT, odds ratio (OR) = 0.68, 95 % CI = 0.48-0.97, p = 0.03; rs7007694CC vs. TT, OR = 0.36, 95 % CI = 0.13-0.97, p = 0.04; rs1456315GG vs. AA, OR = 0.30, 95 % CI = 0.13-0.70, p = 0.004, respectively). Our results suggest that SNPs in the lncRNA PRNCR1 may be a biomarker for the etiology of GC.