Polymorphisms of TNF-alpha and LT-alpha genes in multiple myeloma

Allelic distribution of −308 G > A (TNF 1/2) polymorphism of the TNF-alpha, and the +252 A > G promoter polymorphism of the LT-alpha gene, the 1267 A > G polymorphism of the HSP70-2 gene as well as the −429 T > C promoter polymorphism of the RAGE gene were tested in 94 MM cases and 141 controls. Significantly less MM patients than controls carried the TNF2 allele (p = 0.018) and the TNF2-LTA 252G haplotype (p = 0.025). The difference was, however, restricted to the females, as well as the relatively young (<69 years) subjects. By contrast, we did not find differences with the other SNPs tested.