Polymorphisms of IL-23R predict survival of gastric cancer patients in a Chinese population

IL-17/IL-23 pathway has been hypothesized to play a role in occurrence and progression of gastric cancer. To investigate the susceptibility and prognostic value of polymorphisms in genes in the IL-17/IL-23 pathway to gastric cancer, we performed a case-control study combined a retrospective study in a Chinese population. The Sequenom's MassARRAY (R) genotyping platform was used to genotype the polymorphisms, and infection of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) was determined by using a commercial H. pylori immunogold testing kit. The results showed that IL-17A rs3748067 T allele carriers have a higher gastric cancer risk than non-carriers in the subgroup of individuals with age > 64 years old (CT/TT vs. CC: adjusted OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.04-2.29). The result of prognosis shown that IL-23R rs1884444 GG and rs6682925 CC genotype were associated with unfavorable survival (rs1884444 GG vs. GT/TT: adjusted HR = 1.40, 95%CI:1.02-1.93; rs6682925 CC vs. CT/TT: HR = 1.43, 95%CI:1.06-1.92), respectively. The stratified analysis revealed that the significant association of rs1884444 was maintained in the subgroup of older than 64 years old, and that rs6682925 was associated with unfavorable survival in the subgroup of female and patients received chemotherapy. In short, we concluded two polymorphisms (rs1884444 and rs6682925) in IL-23R were associated with prognosis of gastric cancer patients.