E-cadherin–160 C/A promoter polymorphism and risk of pancreatic carcinoma in Chinese population

Recent studies have implicated E-cadherin–160C/A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in susceptibility to and early onset of some cancers. We investigated the role of E-cadherin–160 C/A SNP in Chinese pancreatic carcinoma patients without dominant family history by genotyping 254 patients and 101 controls. The risk of cancer for CC genotype individuals was less than half that of AA individuals [odds ratio (OR) = 0.41; 95%confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.18–0.96]. Furthermore, patients with the CC and CA genotypes whose tumors were stages III (T4NxM0) and IV (TxNxM1) (OR = 0.38; 95%CI = 0.17–0.83), poorly differentiated (OR = 0.28; 95%CI = 0.09–0.84), and left-sided (OR = 0.45; 95%CI 0.21–0.98) were associated with significantly lower risk than AA patients. Young (60 years old or younger) AA patients had a 5-year lower mean age at onset than CC/CA patients (P = 0.02). Young male AA patients had worse disease-specific survival than CC/CA patients (P = 0.002). Thus, contrary to Canadians and Portuguese, the AA (rather than CC) genotype is associated with increased susceptibility and advanced pancreatic carcinoma in Chinese patients, suggesting a more complex relationship between the SNP and pancreatic carcinoma risk, possibly modulated by population differences.