Association of BRM promoter polymorphisms and esophageal adenocarcinoma outcome

Brahma (BRM) is a critical catalytic subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex; expression of BRM is commonly lost in various cancer types. BRM promoter polymorphisms (BRM-741; BRM-1321) are associated with loss of BRM expression, and with cancer risk/survival. We evaluated these two polymorphisms in the overall survival (OS) of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) patients.

Of 270 patients, 37% were stage IV. Minor allele frequencies were 47-49%; 15% were double-homozygotes. When compared to the wild-type genotype, the homozygous variant of BRM-741 carried an adjusted OS hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.64 (95% CI:1.1-2.4); for BRM-1321, the aHR was 2.09 (95% CI:1.4-3.0). Compared to the double wild-type, carrying homozygous variants of both promoter polymorphisms (double-homozygote) yielded an aHR of 2.21 (95% CI:1.4-3.6). Directions/magnitudes of associations were similar in subsets by age, gender, smoking status, use of platinum agents, and disease stage, and for progression-free survival.

In a cohort of EAC patients of all stages (84% male; median age of 64 years), two BRM polymorphisms were genotyped. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for known prognostic variables, estimated the association of polymorphisms with OS.

BRM polymorphisms were associated with OS in EAC in this study. Validation studies are warranted.