A miR-182 variant and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in a southern Chinese population

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the regulation of gene expression at the posttranscriptional level and are involved in human carcinogenesis. The aim of the current study was to investigate the associations between miR-182 single nucleotide polymorphisms and HCC risk in a southern Chinese population. In this case-control study of 863 HCC patients and 908 cancer-free controls, we performed genotyping of miR-182 rs4541843 and assessed its association with HCC risk. We found that individuals carrying the AG/AA genotypes of miR-182 rs4541843 were significantly associated with an increased risk of HCC compared with those carrying the GG genotype (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07-2.76, P = 0.026). In the stratified analysis, this increased risk was more pronounced in the subgroups of older individuals (adjusted OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.04-3.76, P = 0.037), males (adjusted OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.09-2.99, P = 0.021), and never drinkers (adjusted OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.03-3.30, P = 0.041). Our results suggested that miR-182 polymorphism rs4541843 may contribute to the susceptibility to HCC. Our findings require validation in further studies with larger sample sizes.