Polymorphisms of p53, p21 and IRF-1 and Cervical Cancer Susceptibility in Korean Women

The aim of this study was to identify gene- gene and gene-environmental factor on cervical carcinogenesis in Korean women.

We evaluated 185 women patients who had cervical cancer with 345 normal control healthy women. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the p53 codon 72, the p21 codon 31 and the IRF-1 intron 6 were evaluated from extracted DNA of peripheral blood with an automatic DNA sequencer. The difference of each SNP, gene-gene and gene-environmental interaction between normal controls and patients, were evaluated in an adjusted environmental background.

With regard to environmental factors, the cervical cancer increased in the women with a lower level of education, a younger age at first sexual intercourse and with the increased number of children borne. The women who had p53 (Arg/Arg), IRF-1 (T/T) and an education of less than 6 years showed a 14.7 fold increased risk of cervical cancer than those women who had p53 (~Pro), IRF-1 (~C) and an education of more than 15 years. The women who had p53 (Arg/Arg), p21 (Ser/Ser) and more than 3 children showed a 6.4 fold increased risk of cervical cancer than those women who had p53 (~Pro), p21 (~Arg) and had borne no child. The women who had p53 (Arg/Arg), IRF-1 (T/T) and had experience of first sexual intercourse before the age of 22-years showed a 5.5 fold increased risk of cervical cancer than those women who had p53 (~Pro), IRF-1 (~C) and had experience of first sexual intercourse after the age of 26-years.

We found that the level of education, the age at first intercourse, and the number of children borne, were independent risk factors in cervical carcinogenesis. The specific combination of p53, p21 and IRF-1 gene-gene and gene-environmental interactions were significantly noted in the cervical carcinogenesis of Korean women.