Genetic Variants in the 3′ Untranslated Region of sFRP1 Gene and Risk of Gastric Cancer in a Chinese Population

Background Secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (sFRP1), a negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway, is frequently inactivated in human gastric cancer. Genetic variants in the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of the gene may influence the strength of miRNA binding and the regulation of mRNA transcription, affecting the individual's cancer risk. This study aims to investigate the impact of variants in the 3′ UTR of sFRP1 on the gastric cancer susceptibility in a Chinese population. Patients and methods The association between 2 sFRP1 gene variation loci (rs1127379 and rs10088390) with minor allele frequency more than 0.1 in the 3′ UTR and gastric cancer risk was assessed in a case-control study including 419 gastric cancer cases and 571 healthy controls. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used for genotyping; the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated to estimate the relative risk. Results Compared with the AA genotype, the GG genotype of rs1127379 was significantly associated with a reduced risk of gastric cancer overall. In the subgroup analysis, the protective effect of the GG genotype was also found for noncardia cancer and intestinal gastric cancer. Furthermore, haplotype analysis showed that the Ars1127379 Grs10088390 haplotype conferred a risk effect for gastric cancer. Conclusions Genetic variants at the sFRP1 gene may be involved in gastric tumorigenesis, especially in noncardia and intestinal gastric cancer. Further prospective studies with different ethnicities and large sample sizes are needed to confirm our findings.