Investigation of high-mobility group box 1 variants with lymph node status and colorectal cancer risk

Accumulating studies indicated that maintain nuclei homeostasis was deemed to the protective factors for the occurrence of cancer. Thus, high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) might influence the risk and poorer prognoses of colorectal cancer (CRC).

This study was designed to investigate whether HMGB1 polymorphisms influence the risk and lymph node metastasis (LNM) of CRC.

Firstly, we designed an investigation with 1003 CRC patients and 1303 cancer-free controls to observe whether HMGB1 rs1412125 T > C and rs1045411 C > T SNPs could influence the risk of cancer. Subsequently, we carried out a correlation-analysis to assess whether these SNPs could alter the risk of LNM.

The current investigation suggested a relationship of HMGB1 rs1412125 SNP with the increased susceptibility of CRC. In a subgroup analysis, our findings suggested that this SNP could enhance an occurrence of CRC in ≥ 61 years, non-drinker and body mass index < 24 kg/m² subgroups. However, we found that there was null association between HMGB1 rs1412125 SNP and LNM, even in different CRC region. These observations were confirmed by calculating the power value (more than 0.8). The association of HMGB1 rs1045411 C > T SNP with CRC risk and LNM was not found in any compare.

This study highlights a possible association between HMGB1 rs1412125 polymorphism and the increased risk of CRC. In the future, more studies should be conducted to explore HMGB1 rs1412125 polymorphism in relation to CRC development.