Genetic polymorphisms of IL-23R (rs7517847) and LEP (rs7799039) among Egyptian patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Genetic polymorphisms of IL-23R (rs7517847) and LEP (rs7799039) have been stated to be associated with various types of human cancers. The purpose of this work is to test the association of these genetic polymorphisms with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among Egyptian patients. Subjects and methods: This study involved 150 unrelated Egyptian HCC patients in addition to 100 healthy controls from the same locality. DNA was genotyped for these genetic polymorphisms using the PCR-RFLP technique. Results: The frequency of the IL-23R (rs7517847) G and LEP (rs7799039) G alleles were significantly higher among HCC patients compared to controls (p = .004 and .02). However, HCC patients with the IL-23R GG and LEP GG genotypes showed no significant difference compared to others regarding their clinical and laboratory markers. Conclusions:IL-23R (rs7517847) and LEP (rs7799039) polymorphisms were associated with an increased risk but not affecting the clinical presentation of HCC among Egyptian patients.