Martins MB, de Assis Batista F, Bufalo NE, Peres KC, Meneghetti M, da Assumpção LVM, Ward LS. Polymorphisms of IL-4 and IL-4R are associated to some demographic characteristics of differentiated thyroid cancer patients but are not determinants of risk in the Brazilian population.
Endocrine 2021;
72:470-478. [PMID:
32902809 DOI:
10.1007/s12020-020-02486-z]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
IL-4 is known to present abnormal expression in thyroid tumors and SNPs in the IL-4 and its receptor IL-4R genes are associated to risk and mortality of various types of cancer.
METHODS
In order to evaluate their role in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), we investigated genetic frequencies of two IL-4 promoter SNPs (rs2070874 C>T, rs2243250 C>T) and four non-synonymous SNPs of the IL-4R gene (rs1805010 A>G, rs1805012 C>T, rs1805013 C>T, rs1801275 A>G) in 300 DTC patients matched to 300 controls. All patients were managed according to current guidelines and followed-up for a period of 12-252 months (69.20 ± 52.70 months).
RESULTS
Although none of the six investigated SNPs showed association with risk of DTC, rs1805010 was associated with age of diagnosis and the SNPs rs1805012 and rs1801275 were associated to gender. Further, in-silico analysis showed that all these three SNPs were able to cause decreased stability of the protein. We were not able to demonstrate any other association to clinical features of aggressiveness or to patients' prognosis.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that although genetic variants in IL-4 and IL-4R do not influence the risk or outcome of DTC patients, their influence on the behavior of thyroid tumors deserves further investigation.
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