Two genetic variants in telomerase-associated protein 1 are associated with stomach cancer risk

This study examined the impact of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the telomerase-associated protein 1 (TEP1) gene on the risk of breast, colorectal, hepatocellular, lung and stomach cancer. A significantly increased stomach cancer risk associated with the GG genotype at rs1760893 (odds ratio (OR)=1.64, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.23-2.20, P=0.004) or CC genotype at rs1713423 (OR=2.40, 95% CI=1.88-3.07, P<0.0001) was observed, compared with their wild-type counterpart. The GG genotype at rs1760893 was also associated with enhanced hepatocellular cancer susceptibility (OR=1.46, 95% CI=1.05-2.03, P=0.02). In classification and regression tree analysis, individuals carrying the CC genotype at rs1713423 had 2.69-fold increased risk of stomach cancer (95% CI=2.18-3.32, P<0.0001) compared with the TT and TC genotypes. The current results suggested that genetic variants at TEP1 SNPs rs1760893 and rs1713423 may be associated significantly with increased risk of stomach cancer.