Association of Caspase-8 Genotypes With Bladder Cancer Risk

Rs3824129 is a functional six-nucleotide insertion(I)/deletion(D) polymorphism in the promoter region of caspase 8, an essential apoptosis gene. We aimed to examine the association of this polymorphism with the risk of bladder cancer in the Taiwanese population.

Caspase-8 rs3834129 genotypes were determined and their associations with bladder cancer risk were evaluated among 375 patients and 375 controls by the PCR-RFLP methodology. In addition, the interaction of caspase-8 rs3834129 genotypes with personal behaviors and clinicopathological features were examined.

The frequencies of II, ID and DD genotypes for caspase-8 rs3834129 were non-differentially distributed between the two groups (p for trend=0.7187). Analysis of allelic frequency distribution also indicated that the D variant allele was not associated with a risk of bladder cancer. There was no obvious joint interaction between caspase-8 rs3834129 genotypes and smoking, alcohol consumption, and clinical stage and grade.

Caspase-8 rs3834129 genotypes play a minor role in the personal susceptibility to bladder cancer in Taiwan.